Christoph Bull
Adjunct Professor - Organ Performance, Music Performance

Western classical organ music

Prof. Bull will be on leave Winter Quarter, 2019

Born in Mannheim, Germany, Christoph Bull has performed and recorded around the world, including France, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Russia, India, Taiwan and El Salvador, at national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists and at venues such as Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Lincoln Center in New York City, Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, the Cathedrals of Moscow, Saint-Denis and Salzburg as well as rock clubs like The Viper Room, The Roxy and The Whisky in Los Angeles.

Bull improvised his first melodies on the piano at the age of five and gave his first organ recitals and rock concerts with a band at the age of twelve. He’s collaborated with leading orchestras, conductors, choirs and ensembles including the Los Angeles Master Chorale, James Conlon, Carl St.Clair, Pacific Chorale, Pacific Symphony and Grammy-winning Southwest Chamber Music.

His organ teachers were Cherry Rhodes, Hermann Schäffer, Ludwig Dörr, Samuel Swartz, Christoph Schöner and Paul Jordan. He also participated in master courses with Marie-Claire Alain, Guy Bovet, Craig Cramer and Rudi Lutz.

Bull is the creator of the genre-crossing, collaborative multi-media series organica, combining traditional and contemporary music. His collaborators include DJs, video artists, live painter, instrumentalists and singers. He has also contributed to projects by Steven Spielberg, Robin Williams, Harry Connick Jr., George Clinton and Bootsy Collins (Parliament Funkadelic), Cindy Lauper, Lili Haydn and Nishat Khan and opened the organ series at Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa and Villa Aurora in the Pacific Palisades.

His solo album First & Grand, the world premiere recording of the Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ, was celebrated by the international trade press and showcases the stylistic versatility and expressiveness of his playing. His original song “Peace” was featured on the benefit album 2 Unite All together with songs by Peter Gabriel, Stewart Copeland and others. His song “Ali” was featured on the website for the collector’s book about Muhammad Ali by Taschen.

His music has been broadcast on TV and radio, including on NPR’s flagship station in Southern California, KCRW, on Classical KUSC and the Minnesota Public Radio program “Pipedreams”.

Bull is based in Los Angeles. In addition to his activities as a concert organist, composer, singer-songwriter, speaker, university organist and organ professor at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), he is organist-in-residence at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, playing one of the largest pipe organs in the world.

Outside of music, Bull is interested in politics, theology, cinema and sports. He’s read the whole Bible, Koran, Bhagavad Gita and Tao Te Ching, watched every Seinfeld episode and all Star Wars movies in a row in the chronological order of the storyline. He’s run the L.A. Marathon several times and won the National German Youth Championship in Baseball with his team BC Tornados Mannheim.

Professor Christoph Bull Performs in China and Japan
We have heard from the Music Department’s Professor of Organ, Christoph Bull, who has been performing in Japan and China. Below are some of the photos he has shared with
Chistoph Bull -- Podcast "At The Organ"
  We have heard from Professor Christoph Bull, University Organist, about his latest podcast interview with Jim Logue. He says “Jim Logue interviewed me about how I got into playing

Related Members

See All Music Faculty
Dwayne Milburn
Lecturer - Conducting and Composition
Lucy Yates
Lecturer - Vocal Diction and Vocal Coaching
Jonathan Davis
Lecturer - Oboe Performance
Ben Hong
Lecturer - Cello Performance
Varty Manouelian
Lecturer - Violin Performance, Violin LA Philharmonic
Adam Gilberti
Lecturer - Music Education/Woodwinds, Instrument Curator
Aubrey Foard
Lecturer - Tuba Performance
Iris Malkin
Lecturer - Vocal Coaching
Benjamin Smolen
Lecturer - Flute Performance
Richard Danielpour
Distinguished Professor - Co-Area Head, Composition
Cheryl Lin Fielding
Lecturer - Vocal Diction and Vocal Coaching
Ji Young An
Lecturer - Violin Performance
Kay Rhie
Assistant Professor - Composition
Travis J. Cross
Professor - Conducting, Director of Bands
David Lefkowitz
Professor - Composition, Vice Chair of the Department of Music
Johanna Gamboa-Kroesen
Assistant Professor - Music Education
Rakefet Hak
Lecturer - Music Director of Opera UCLA
James Bass
Professor and Chair of the Department of Music, Director of Choral Studies
Dante De Silva
Lecturer - Composition and Music Theory
James Miller
Lecturer - Trombone Performance, Associate Principal Trombone LA Phil
Shahāb Pāranj
Lecturer and Postdoctoral Scholar - Composition, contemporary concert music
David Kaplan
Inaugural Shapiro Family Chair in Piano Performance
Brendan McBrien
Lecturer - Music Education
Peter Golub
Lecturer - Composition, Music and Film
Mildred Yi
Lecturer - Music Education
Jens Lindemann
Distinguished Professor - Trumpet Performance
Juliana Gondek
Distinguished Professor - Voice Performance
Ian Krouse
Distinguished Professor - Co-Area Head, Composition
Joshua Ranz
Lecturer - Clarinet Performance
James Lent
Lecturer - Collaborative Piano
Nick DePinna
Adjunct Assistant Professor - Musicianship
Michael Dean
Professor - Voice Performance
Sarah Koo Freeman
Visiting Professor - Cello Performance
Lou Anne Neill
Lecturer - Harp Performance, Harp LA Philharmonic
Peter Kazaras
Distinguished Professor - Director of Opera UCLA
Jan Berry Baker
Professor of Saxophone, Vice Chair of the Department of Music, Special Assistant to the Dean for Faculty Mentoring
William Kinderman
Distinguished Professor and Elaine Krown Klein Chair in Performance Studies
Victoria Kirsch
Lecturer - Vocal Coaching
Che-Yen Chen
Professor - Viola Performance
Neal Stulberg
Professor - Conducting, Director of Orchestral Studies
Vladimir Chernov
Distinguished Professor - Voice Performance
Alison Deane
Associate Adjunct Professor
Theresa Dimond
Lecturer - Percussion Performance
Gloria Cheng
Adjunct Professor - Contemporary Music, Performance Studies
Inna Faliks
Professor - Head of Piano
Gregory Goodall
Lecturer - Percussion Performance
Movses Pogossian
Distinguished Professor of Violin; Founder and Advisor, Armenian Music Program - Music Performance
Wendy Caldwell
Lecturer - Vocal Coaching
Arturo O’Farrill
Director, UCLA Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra; Professor
Wendy Richman
Lecturer - Music Education
Lily Chen-Hafteck
Professor - Music Education, Special Assistant to the Inaugural Dean for Curricular Reform
Amy Sanchez
Lecturer - Horn Performance
Andrew Ordonez
Events Manager, Department of Music Performance, Education and Composition
Noah Meites
Lecturer - Music Theory
Hitomi Oba
Lecturer and Director of Contemporary Jazz Ensemble
John Steinmetz
Lecturer - Bassoon Performance
David Brennan
Lecturer - Music Education
Ryan Brown
Lecturer - Voice Performance
Chris Hanulik
Adjunct Professor - String Bass Performance; Principal Bass LA Phil
Boris Allakhverdyan
Lecturer - Clarinet Performance, Principal Clarinet LA Philharmonic

Explore Other Degrees

Conducting
Graduate study and training in choral, orchestral, or wind conducting
Ethnomusicology
The study of global musical traditions through performance training, research, and field work
Global Jazz Studies
Jazz performance and musicianship courses are paired with African American Studies
BA
Music Composition
Mentorship in the creation and realization of music for concerts, opera, and visual media
Music Education
Preparation for music educators leading to a BA and teaching credential in just four years
BA
Music Industry
A leadership-focused professional degree which prepares students to transform the creative, entrepreneurial, and executive structures of the music industry
Musicology
The scholarly study of the histories, cultures, and critical interpretations of music and music-making
Music Performance
Study and training towards professional performance careers in Western classical music