Basic HTML Version
Our relations with !he Japanese have been so close that
they cal/ thernselves Mr. Armstrong's sons and my brothers. 1myself am
total/y immersed in the Japanese culture
and spend most ot my spare time studying the language.
that has been created in the heart of the
Church itself at Ambassador College.
When 1look at the glass and emerald–
green granite building that houses it, my
mind flips back to that afternoon in
1957
when Herbert W. Armstrong swept his
arm in an are around the infant college
and predicted that sorne day, the most
beautiful campus in the country would
be built there, and in its midst would
stand a great auditorium.
In less than two decades, the vision
became hard reality. The Ambassador
Auditorium was completed in
1974
and
has been acclaimed by architects, per–
forming artists and critics as one of the
fines! concert halls in the world. The
seven-story building, with its high ftuted
columns rising out of an artificial pool and
bridged walkways to the great bronze
doors, serves several functions. lt is used
by the college for academic forums,
assemblies and classes. lt is the college
chapel where worship services are held.
And it has become a magnificent per–
forming arts center. a showcase for the
world's leading artists, which calls full
attention to the Church while strengthen–
ing cultural bonds with others.
The Auditorium is a rare jewel, " a
miniature palace of rare woods and
marble," the
Hollywood Reporter
has
called it. In its short lite, it has won the
allegiance of the greatest stars in the
concert world, a world that presents a
polite, dignified lace to the public but is
actually as ruthlessly competitive as any
other phase of show business, or of any
business.
The main theater, seating
1,250
per–
sons, is equipped with computerized
lighting and the fines! in acoustical pro–
jection and balance. The lower level
contains a lounge, two studio-class–
rooms, a workshop and dressing rooms
for the actors and artists. Designed by
the architects as an international cultural
center in consonance with the !heme of
!he AICF, materials and furnishings came
from nations around the world.
When the building was completed, an
audience of dignitaries attended the
dedication ceremony and the opening
event. Facing them as they walked
through the great bronze doors was a
large interior wall of rose onyx on which
December 1980
were carved the words: "Ambassador
Auditorium. Made possible by gifts from
the Worldwide Church of God. Dedi–
cated to the honor and glory of THE
GREAT GOD."
God was its inspiration and its pur–
pose, said Mr. Armstrong that evening.
The hall was a vehicle, he told the
guests, to bring to our home city of
Pasadena and the entire greater Los
Angeles community a continuing stream
of the fines! talen! the world could
produce.
lt was a bold pledge, but it was kept.
For seldom in the history of the perform–
ing arts have so many great artists
appeared under one roof. season atter
season. In a remarkably few years, the
Ambassador Auditorium has become
the finest artistic and cultural center in
the West, if not the entire nation.
The Jewel Displayed
Prior to its opening, not many in the
concert circuit had sanguine expecta–
tions for the Ambassador Auditorium's
future. lt was, in fact. assailed as "Arm–
strong's Folly," an enterprise headed
for disaster. lndeed, the entire project
could easily have fulfilled that dire
prophecy were it not for the help it
received from a source in which Mr.
Armstrong was placing all his faith for its
success.
He knew, as the critics did not, that
he had support from Someone who
could not be resisted.
Early in
1973,
while the Auditorium
was still barely rising out of the ground,
Mr. Armstrong had said tome: "We're
going to have a gem here, a perfect
concert hall, so we should have a
superlative maestro and an orchestra to
inaugurate it. Who shall we get?"
Never having been involved before in
a concert series on such a grand scale,
1 confessed 1 wasn 't exactly certain.
While we both loved music and played
passably well, neither of us was exactly
a musicologist. Nevertheless, we knew
enough to realize that great orchestras
were booked years in advance and that
the two years or less we had was
precious short notice. We had to move
fast.
So, despite our rather limited ac-
quaintance with the leaders in the con–
cert field, we almost literally barged in
on the world's foremost conduCtor of
the world's greatest orchestra, the leg–
endary Herbert von Karajan.
Von Karajan was the Austrian maes–
tro who had been conductor of the
Berlín Philharmonic since
1955,
alter
heading the La Scala Opera orchestra
in Milan for seven years. A few ques–
tions convinced us that he was the man
for us, the most renowned musician to
inaugurate what we hoped would be the
most equally renowned concert hall in
the world.
Through mutual friends we made an
appointment with him and flew to Karls–
ruhe, Germany, where he was appear–
ing. A striking-looking man with a leon–
ine countenance, von Karajan warmed
toward us at once in our initial talk. We
made a date for lunch the following day,
our hopes high.
When we met, we stated our case;
the interview stands out in my mind as a
minor classic.
We told him we wanted to book his
orchestra into our new cultural center.
Von Karajan cocked his head and
pursed his thin lips as he listened.
" Of course," 1went on, " the Audito–
rium is not yet completed, but . . ." The
maestro stared at us. a puzzled look on
his lean tace.
"Not finished?" he asked.
1 fi dgeted in my chair. "Well , no," 1
answered, "not yet , but it will be in a
year and a hall." Von Karajan, more
amazed, repeated : "A
year and a
half?"
1glanced somewhat uneasily at
Mr. Armstrong, who was beaming at
von Karajan. Totally undisturbed, Mr.
Armstrong smiled his benevolent smile
and said to him: "You tell us when you
can come. The Auditorium will be fin–
ished."
Thinking back, 1can see how wildly
ludicrous it all must have seemed. Here
we were in Germany, talking about
bringing over a great conductor and a
great orchestra to play in an auditorium
that wasn' t there, and blandly asking
him lo set a date. Yet so total was Mr.
Armstrong's confidence, so poten! his
persuasiveness, and so appealing the
(Continued on page 38)
33