Christoph Bull - The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
Christoph Bull
Adjunct Professor - Organ Performance

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...
Mike Lee
Assistant Professor - Performance Studies...
Richard Danielpour
Distinguished Professor; Director of Gramian-Emrani Center for Iranian Music...
James Bass
Professor and Chair of the Department of Music Performance, Education & Composition, Director of Choral Studies...
James Miller
Continuing Lecturer - Trombone Performance, Associate Principal Trombone LA Phil...
Catherine Gregory
Lecturer - Flute Performance, Woodwind Chamber Music, Director of the Gluck Fellowship Program...
Travis J. Cross
Professor - Conducting, Director of Bands...
Inna Faliks
Professor - Head of Piano Performance...
Lindsey Beardsley
Manager - Department of Music Performance, Education & Composition...
Jan Berry Baker
Associate Dean of Faculty Mentoring and Community Relations, Professor - Saxophone, Head of Woodwinds, Vice Chair of the Department of Music Performance, Education & Composition...
Dwayne Milburn
Continuing Lecturer - Conducting and Composition...
Benjamin Smolen
Lecturer - Flute Performance...
Camilo Cedeno
Assistant to the Chair - Department of Music Performance, Education & Composition...
Lucy Yates
Continuing Lecturer - Vocal Diction and Vocal Coaching...
Chris Hanulik
Adjunct Professor - String Bass Performance; Principal Bass LA Phil...
Movses Pogossian
Distinguished Professor of Violin; Founder and Advisor, Armenian Music Program - Music Performance...
Rakefet Hak
Senior Continuing Lecturer - Opera UCLA...
Lily Chen-Hafteck
Professor - Music Education, Special Assistant to the Inaugural Dean for Curricular Reform...
Neal Stulberg
Distinguished Professor - Conducting, Director of Orchestral Studies, Artistic Director Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience...
David Kaplan
Inaugural Shapiro Family Professor in Piano Performance, Associate Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Music Performance, Education & Composition...
Regina Carter-Garnett
Professor - Music Performance and Global Jazz Studies...
Wendy Richman
Lecturer - Performance Studies...
Peter Golub
Continuing Lecturer - Composition, Music and Film...
Vladimir Chernov
Distinguished Professor - Voice Performance...
Hitomi Oba
Continuing Lecturer and Director of Contemporary Jazz Ensemble...
Ben Hong
Lecturer - Cello Performance...
Wendy Caldwell
Continuing Lecturer - Vocal Coaching...
John Steinmetz
Continuing Lecturer - Bassoon Performance...
Noah Meites
Continuing Lecturer - Music Theory...
David Lefkowitz
Professor - Composition, Vice Chair of the Department of Music Performance, Education & Composition...
Aubrey Foard
Continuing Lecturer - Tuba Performance...
Victoria Kirsch
Continuing Lecturer - Vocal Coaching...
Joshua Ranz
Continuing Lecturer - Clarinet Performance...
Justin McManus
Assistant Professor - Director of Athletic Bands and Associate Director of Bands...
Brendan McBrien
Lecturer - Music Education...
Michael Dean
Professor - Voice Performance...
Ji Young An
Continuing Lecturer - Violin Performance...
Dante De Silva
Continuing Lecturer - Composition and Music Theory...
Varty Manouelian
Continuing Lecturer - Violin Performance, Violin LA Philharmonic...
Jonathan Beard
Continuing Lecturer - Music Industry (Electronic Music) and Composition...
Shahab Paranj
Gramian-Emrani Postdoctoral Fellow in Music and Lecturer - Composition, Contemporary Concert Music...
William Kinderman
Distinguished Professor and Elaine Krown Klein Professor in Performance Studies...
Theresa Dimond
Continuing Lecturer - Percussion Performance...
James Darrah Black
Professor - Director of Opera UCLA...
Jonathan Davis
Senior Continuing Lecturer - Oboe Performance...
Amy Sanchez
Continuing Lecturer - Horn Performance...
Kay Rhie
Assistant Professor - Composition...
Nick DePinna
Adjunct Assistant Professor - Musicianship...
Cheryl Lin Fielding
Continuing Lecturer - Vocal Diction and Vocal Coaching...
Lou Anne Neill
Continuing Lecturer - Harp Performance, Harp LA Philharmonic...
Iris Malkin
Continuing Lecturer - Vocal Coaching...
Jens Lindemann
Distinguished Professor - Trumpet Performance...
Juliana Gondek
Distinguished Professor - Voice Performance...
Kaii Lee
Lecturer - Music Education...
Boris Allakhverdyan
Continuing Lecturer - Clarinet Performance, Principal Clarinet LA Philharmonic...
Ian Krouse
Distinguished Professor - Co-Area Head, Composition...
Che-Yen Chen
Professor - Viola Performance...
James Lent
Continuing Lecturer - Collaborative Piano...
Gregory Goodall
Continuing Lecturer - Percussion Performance...
Gloria Cheng
Distinguished Adjunct Professor - Contemporary Music, Performance Studies...
Andrew Ordonez
Events Manager - Department of Music Performance, Education & Composition...
Johanna Gamboa-Kroesen
Assistant Professor - Music Education...
Melissa Bilal
Promise Professor in Armenian Music, Arts, and Culture and Director of Armenian Music Program...
Noel Cano Hearn
Lecturer - Alexander Technique and Music Education...

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...
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...
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...