The Hollywood High School E. M. Skinner Organ Opus 481-A is a pipe organ

Pipe organ

The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...

 in Hollywood High School

Hollywood High School

Hollywood High School is a Los Angeles Unified School District high school located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California.-History:...

, in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...

. The contract for Opus 481 was made in June 1924, shortly after Skinner returned from his second trip to England and France. It took two years to build the organ. The organ was expanded (the Swell 4′ Octave and 4′ Clarion) in 1929 by Skinner

Ernest M. Skinner

Ernest M. Skinner was one of the most successful American organ builders of the early 20th century.-Early years:...

. When the 1929 Memorial auditorium was built, the organ was moved and also registered as Opus 481-A. Then in 1954 it was placed into storage when the auditorium was refurbished, torn down to its foundation and rebuilt in its present form. Opus 481 is considered to be of musical value, built by the "Cadillac" of symphonic organ builders of the 20th century. The historic organ is an E. M. Skinner Opus 481 of 3-manuals, 39 ranks with chimes and has over 2,600 pipes.
Given to the school by the class of 1924 it was originally located on the west wall in the original auditorium (which is now the library).The organ was paid for by funds raised by the student body, putting on a production of "Peter Pan" at the Hollywood Bowl

Hollywood Bowl

The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...

. Louis Vierne

Louis Vierne

Louis Victor Jules Vierne was a French organist and composer.-Life:Louis Vierne was born in Poitiers, Vienne, nearly blind due to congenital cataracts, but at an early age was discovered to have an unusual gift for music. Louis Victor Jules Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French...

 played his only Southern California performance at Hollywood High in 1927, and Edwin Lemare

Edwin Lemare

Edwin Henry Lemare was an English organist and composer who lived the latter part of his life in the United States.-Biography:...

 played his last public performance at Hollywood High School while his daughter, Mary, was attending school there in 1931. Other famous organists have played there, including Virgil Fox

Virgil Fox

Virgil Keel Fox was an American organist, known especially for his flamboyant "Heavy Organ" concerts of the music of Bach. These events appealed to audiences in the 1970s who were more familiar with rock 'n' roll music and were staged complete with light shows...

. Felix Hell played the first public concert on the newly renovated organ in October 2002.

Damage and restoration

The organ, under the care of Williamson-Warne & Associates, was in reasonably good playing condition until the Northridge earthquake of 1994. The organ survived fairly well, basically sustaining damaged in the form of a few broken pipes, and a couple of racks that pulled out of the wall. What no one realized is that the earthquake had damaged the roof above both of the organ chambers, and when Hollywood experienced a heavy winter rain the following week, both organ chambers took on a lot of water and severely damaged the mechanisms.

After several years of neglect, in 2000, the jewel of Hollywood High School began one of the greatest organ renovation projects in California if not the United States. The school with the help of the Organ Historical Society of America and headed by Austin Organs, Inc.

Austin Organs, Inc.

Austin Organs, Inc. is a manufacturer of pipe organs based in Hartford, Connecticut. The company is one of the oldest continuously-operating organ manufacturers in the United States...

, of Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

, worked towards its rebuilding which was completed in May 2002.