About

The Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ DVD/CD

This is the story of the design and construction of the pipe organ in Walt Disney Concert Hall, skillfully told through narration, photography, and the beautiful interweaving of performances by ten different organists.

There are interviews from Frank Gehry, Architect, Manuel Rosales, Tonal Designer, and Caspar von Glatter-Götz, German Organ Builder.

The bonus CD includes 13 organ works played by 6 organists from the Los Angeles area.

View the playlist.

  • Format: DVD (Region: 1,2,3,4,5,6 - NTSC) CD (44.1 KHz - 16-Bit Stereo)
  • Release Date: 2012 Label: Sable Arms Productions in association with OM-RPM Productions
  • Length: DVD 50 minutes; CD 78 minutes
  • Contents: DVD Documentary with performance excerpts plus Special Guest Artists: Olivier Latry, Shin-Young Lee, Frederick Swann and Cherry Rhodes.CD & DVD feature organists Christoph Bull, Wayne Foster, Namhee Han, Thomas Mellan, John West and Philip Smith, Conservator of the Walt Disney Concert Hall organ.
  • Produced, Directed, Written and Narrated by: Raoul Peter Mongilardi of OM-RPM Productions
  • Associate Producer: Manuel J. Rosales
  • Director of Photography: Scott Youngren Post Production
  • Supervisor: Brian Conover of LightSoundImagination
  • Executive Producers: Craig and Jennifer Zobelein
Raoul Peter Mongilardi

Producer, Director, Writer, Narrator

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Craig Zobelein

Co-Executive Producer

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Jennifer Zobelein

Co-Executive Producer

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"The pipe organ has always been a metaphysical experience to me, something born in antiquity, evolving, a force of nature that is barely of this Earth. It is a distinct honor to be part of the marvelous team presenting this seminal documentary about one of the most iconic and beautiful instruments in America, or as I like to think of it, "the organ of the future." We believe our film shares a powerful musical journey, and it is my hope that those who dwell close by and have never heard the organ live, will be intrigued to visit the Walt Disney Concert Hall to experience it; and, that those far afield will also come to hear the instrument and to support their local musicians, and venues."

Raoul Peter Mongilardi,
Producer, Director, Writer, Narrator

Raoul Peter Mongilardi

Producer, Director, Writer, Narrator

In 1995, Raoul served as Stage Manager for the Geffen Playhouse, he segued into television production with projects for Disney Imagineering, and Paramount Television and films, serving as Associate Producer on the Sony / White Light feature, Love.Com. aka Primal Instinct.

As Director of Operations for the Peter Rodgers Organization, an international television programming distributor, Raoul supervised 8000 hours of syndicated programming and client assets. Raoul was honored to work for Nicolas Cage, and inspired to write Lovecraft, a place winner in the 2005 American Zoetrope screenwriting competition. Raoul's Sci-Fi novel series, Next To The Gods, edited by John R. Douglas, garnered high praise from author, Marcia Mitchell, American Film Institute co-founder and former Corporation for Public Broadcasting Executive, "Next To The Gods contains worlds that make the heart sing and the imagination soar", and from Richard Lindheim, Executive Vice President of Paramount Pictures who wrote, "Next To The Gods is exciting and highly imaginative with a strong story and colorful characters."

A prolific writer, Raoul's other screenplays include, the Sci-Fi action-adventure, Terrarosa, The Red Casket, a horror feature, the comedy-drama, Magic Reeds, the comedy, The Award, and the fantasy, The Demon and the Geisha. A talented voice over artist, Raoul is at ease with drama, commercial work and a wide range of impersonations and character voices.

Raoul is CEO of OM~RPM Productions, serving as writer/producer for the documentary, The Changing Face Of Autism, distributed by National Film Network and nominated for the 2009 Voice Award. Currently, the company is developing the drama feature, The Burning Blue, based on the national news breakout true story of an American hero.

Launching OMRPM consultations, Raoul worked with the Fox Television series, Celebrity Duets and served as 2nd AD for the Star Trek –'New Voyages' franchise feature, World Enough and Time. In 2007, Raoul was co-writer of the internationally televised, "World Music Awards." In 2008, Raoul assisted friend Ken Johnson with the Sundance premiere of his comedy feature, The Smell of Success. Raoul is writer/producer of the documentary, Through Pipes Breath and is manager editor of The Client List, a Hollywood autobiography from PR / Agent legend, David Resnik. Ever diverse, Raoul appeared in a recurring role for BRAVO as "Raoul, butler to the Stars" for their series' Million Dollar Listing and Millionaire Matchmaker.

In 2009, Raoul was honored to attend The Kennedy Center Honors gala, State Department dinner and White House reception with longtime friend Sharon Stone. In 2010, Raoul was a guest of the Secretary of Defense, during a national tour, to address the needs of POW/MIA families. During the Los Angeles leg of that national tour, Raoul addressed 100 families about finding and bringing home loved ones lost in service.

Raoul is represented by Tina Kiratsoulis; FLICK agency and Countess Michelle Czernin of Popular Press Media Group

www.imdb.com
www.omrpmproductions.com
www.omrpmconsultation.com
www.projectburningblue.com
www.thechangingfaceofautism.com
www.initiateproductions.com
www.startreknewvoyages.com/episode_weat.html

Craig Zobelein

Co-Executive Producer

A native Californian, and 4th generation Los Angeleno, Craig grew up in a home filled with music. He played accordion as a child, then advanced to piano and organ, and also classical and folk guitar. At home, he spends hours at a time on his favorite instrument, the Roland Atelier. This amazing invention allows him to access the sounds of classical music, theater organ, orchestra, jazz - any style.

Craig spent fifteen years as a design engineer in the aerospace industry. Something he helped to design as part of the Surveyor Project is actually sitting on the moon! Following his engineering career he spent fifteen years as a teacher in the public school system in Ventura County. For the next eleven years he managed an investment corporation in Los Angeles.

For decades, Craig has performed in community theater - dancing (ballet and flamenco), singing and acting. More recently, he has done silent movie accompaniments, fund raising concerts for local arts organizations, and recitals in his own home. He has produced two CDs of his own performances and is working on another.

Craig is delighted to be a part of this documentary about the Walt Disney Concert Hall organ - an instrument he has been privileged to play twice. He has a cameo appearance at the end of the credits, playing Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!

Jennifer Zobelein

Co-Executive Producer

Jennifer was born in England, lived in Canada, and moved to California in 1955. She graduated from UCLA with a BA in English, minor in music. She studied organ while at UCLA and served as a church organist in Ventura County, later becoming the Dean of the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists - and has always had a great interest in the King of Instruments.

For several years she worked as an assistant editor for Western Publishing Company in Los Angeles. She actually did some writing and editing for the Walt Disney Company during that time. She also wrote educational materials, fiction stories, advertising copy, record inserts, and political speeches. Then she was an educator in the public schools for fifteen years, enjoying working with students on the elementary and secondary levels. After that, she worked with her husband as the Office Manager and corporate treasurer of an investment company for 11 years. Somewhere in between all of those activities, she served as the Project Chair for Habitat for Humanity's first house-building in Thousand Oaks, CA. More recently, she was President of New West Symphony, a professional orchestra which performs in three venues in Ventura County and Los Angeles.

After experiencing the visual and tonal impact of the pipe organ at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, she decided to write a book about its design and construction. Entitled A Forest of Pipes, it was published in 2007. A few years later, she became the Co-Executive Producer of the premiere recording of the Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ, First & Grand, released on CD in 2010 with Christoph Bull as the organist. It is now a great joy for her to be involved in the production of this documentary film on the same subject. It is a fascinating story, brought to life through interviews and exceptional photography. These three projects have brought honor to a world-class instrument which deserves recognition.