1 Big Instrument, 1 Big Band

Cathedral chimes, bird whistles, drums, cymbals, tambourine, even train and police whistles. This 55-year-old traveler by way of England, Holland, and, finally, Pasadena, does it all.

The Foort/BBC organ, formerly the Moller Opus 6690, is a unique giant constructed of 2,031 pipes and 250 stops that is powered by a 30-horsepower blower.

Its musical repertoire includes xylophone, glockenspiel, triangle, castanets, tambourine, fire bell, bird song, sleigh bells and surf sounds.

The musician who will maximize the Foort/BBC’s capabilities during the Pasadena Symphony’s second concert of its 66th season on Saturday is no stranger to do-it-all instruments.

Hector Olivera, who began playing the organ when he was 3, is known for creating sounds of classical music, pipe, symphony orchestra, big band and jazz on the instrument. The internationally known performer will play at the Civic Auditorium for the first time.

The Foort/BBC, given to the Civic by the Merle Norman Cosmetics company this year, was built in Maryland by the M.P. Moller Co. and shipped to England in 1938.

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After British organist Reginald Foort’s countrywide tour with the instrument ended because of World War II, the British Broadcasting Company bought it for a North Wales church, and eventually sold it to a Dutch radio network in the 1960s.

Finally, the organ, returned to Moller after refurbishment, was sold to J.B. Nethercutt, chairman of Merle Norman.

The organ survived its whirlwind tour because it was designed to be dismantled and reassembled in 24 hours, despite its size.

“It’s immense,” said Susanne Glass, an official with the Pasadena Symphony. “It takes up a third of the (auditorium’s) basement.”

Olivera and the Pasadena Symphony, under the baton of Jorge Mester, will perform Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra” and Saint-Saens’ Symphony No. 3 on Saturday.

USC professor of musicology Richard Wingell will give a preconcert lecture at 7:30 p.m. Curtain time is 8:30. Tickets are on sale at the auditorium box office, 300 E. Green St., and at Ticketmaster outlets for $12.50 to $40. To charge by phone: (213) 480-3232. Information: (818) 793-7172.