SACRED SOUNDS OF Y2K; HOUSES OF WORSHIP TO HELP RING IN YEAR.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

If Los Angeles officials have their way, the New Year will ring in with some loud, divine help.

Mayor Richard Riordan and other officials announced Tuesday they are asking each of the 4,000 houses of worship in Los Angeles to participate in what is being called ``Opus 21: A Festival of Sacred Sounds.''

``New Year's Eve 1999 will be a time to celebrate our city's cultural and religious diversity,'' Riordan said. ``Opus 21 will unite our city and our different religions in a moment of peace and harmony for the new century.''

The plea to the churches, temples and synagogues of the city is to join in a series of coordinated events where choirs, bells, cymbals, gongs, shofars and any other musical devices are played four times on Dec. 31.

Riordan said the officials hope to see the first at noon - when a series of five citywide events is scheduled to start - and again at 4 p.m. to coincide with midnight at Greenwich, England, and at 9 p.m. to coincide with New Year's on the East Coast and again at midnight in Los Angeles.

Letters have been sent to every place of worship asking them to participate.

``The ultimate intention is to have so many places of worship participating that no matter where you are, you will hear something,'' said Al Nodal, general manager of the city's Cultural Affairs Department.

So far, he said, some 1,500 houses of worship have expressed interest in participating. He said he hopes eventually that 2,000 will agree.

``We want this to become an annual tradition where we can bring the spiritual side of the city into celebrating our new year,'' Nodal said.

``We've never done anything like this before and it should be fun to see how it works.''

Nodal said each organization is being asked to play whatever music it deems appropriate.

``For some it will be bells, other will have organs,'' Nodal said. ``Whatever they play will be fine with us.''