Organ Recital: Jennifer Pascual

N.P. Mander Organ Recital
Jennifer Pascual, organ

Repertoire to include:
J. S. Bach: Pièce d'Orgue
Luigi Cherubini: Ave Maria (transcr. Maurizio Machella)
Maurice Ravel: Pavane pour une infant défunte (transcr. Maurizio Machella)
Clara Schumann: Prelude and Fugue in d minor
Fanny Mendelssohn: Prelude in F
Jeanne Demessieux: Rorate Coeli: Choral orné & Attende Domine: Choral Paraphrase

Dr. Jennifer Pascual was appointed Director of Music at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City in 2003. She is the first woman to hold this position, one of the most prestigious sacred music appointments in the United States. 

Jennifer earned a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Organ Performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY where she studied with David Higgs and taught undergraduate theory courses. She holds a Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance from the Mannes College of Music in New York City where she studied with Nina Svetlanova and studied organ privately with Mc Neil Robinson. She received the Bachelor of Music Degrees in Piano and Organ Performance, magna cum laude, and Music Education from Jacksonville University in Florida where she studied with Mary Lou Wesley Krosnick and William Saunders and taught both organ and piano in the University’s Continuing Education Department. 

Jennifer was on the Artistic Staff of the Boys Choir of Harlem, Inc. from 1994 to 2003. She has served as an organist and choir director in the Dioceses of St. Augustine (FL) and Rochester (NY), and the Archdioceses of Newark (NJ) and New York (NY), and has served at three Roman Catholic Cathedrals. Dr. Pascual served as Professor and Director of Music of St. Joseph’s Seminary and College in New York from 2007 to 2014. She currently serves as the Director of Music of the New York Archdiocesan Festival Chorale. 

Dr. Pascual is a member of the American Guild of Organists; New York Archdiocesan Music Commission, currently serving as its chair; Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians, having previously served on the Steering Committee; Liturgical Organists Consortium; EastWest Organists; Liturgy Committee for the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC; and National Association of Pastoral Musicians, where she served on the National Board and is a frequent recitalist and clinician at national conventions. 

She was a finalist in the 1990 Florida First Coast Piano Competition, performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Jacksonville University Community Orchestra in 1993 while also a French Horn player in the orchestra, performed in the 1995 Bach Aria Festival in New York, was a featured soloist in the 2004 and 2012 International Bamboo Organ Festival in Manila. In 2013, she was the first American invited to perform in the VI Royal Christmas International Festival in Moscow and the regions of Russia and served as a juror during the 2014 Organ Festival at the Catholic Cathedral in Moscow. Jennifer was one of the organists for the November 2015 dedication of first pipe organ installation in the Far East Russian Federation in Vladivostok. She is a recipient of the Paderewski Medal and Theodore Presser Award. Jennifer has performed in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Philippines, Russia, Vatican City, and throughout the United States. 

In April 2008, she had the privilege of overseeing all of the liturgical music for His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI during his Pastoral Visit to New York in addition to conducting music for the Masses at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Yankee Stadium and the Ecumenical Service at St. Joseph’s Church. Two weeks later, Jennifer conducted the St. Patrick’s Cathedral Choir for President Bush at the White House for the National Day of Prayer. In December 2008, she was named a Dame of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in recognition of service to the Church. She also conducted two performances during that Christmas season at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. In April 2009, Dr. Pascual conducted all of the music for the Installation Liturgies of Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan. Under her direction, the New York Archdiocesan Festival Chorale travelled to Rome and Vatican City to sing for the June 2009 Pallium Pilgrimage of Archbishop Dolan, the February 2012 Consistory Pilgrimage of Cardinal Dolan, and the April 2016 New York Year of Mercy Pilgrimage led by Cardinal Dolan. They have also travelled to Austria, Germany, Ireland, Israel and the Philippines under her direction. In 2010, the St. Patrick’s Cathedral Choir was the only American choir invited to participate in the IX Festival Internazionale di Musica e Arte Sacra in Rome and Vatican City. In September 2015, Dr. Pascual oversaw all liturgical music for His Holiness, Pope Francis, during his Pastoral Visit to New York. She conducted the St. Patrick’s Cathedral Choir and Orchestra for Evening Prayer (Vespers) with Pope Francis at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. She also conducted them, together with the New York Archdiocesan Festival Chorale, for Mass celebrated by the Holy Father at Madison Square Garden. 

With the broadcast of live Mass from St. Patrick’s Cathedral on The Catholic Channel, SiriusXM 129, the St. Patrick’s Cathedral Choir, which she conducts, can be heard from 10:15am–11:30am on Sundays from September to June. She also hosts a radio talk and music show called “Sounds from the Spires” broadcast on the same channel, Saturdays, 1:00am–2:00am and 11:00pm–12:00am and Sundays, 6:00am–7:00am and 5:00pm–6:00pm (all Eastern times). Her Organ Music & Gregorian Chant; Christmas Music for Trumpets and Organ; and Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee(choir) CDs from St. Patrick's Cathedral on the JAV label are available at pipe-organ-recordings.com. Jennifer is also an organist on the World Library Publication 8-CD recording of Psalms and Ritual Music.

The N.P. Mander organ—at 5,000 pipes, 30 tons and 45 feet high—is the largest tracker-action pipe organ in the New York metropolitan area. This massive, kingly instrument bellows beneath the massive vaults at St. Ignatius Loyola. All N.P. Mander Organ Recitals feature large-screen projection, offering the audience a rare view of the organist at work.

All performance dates, artists and programs subject to change. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.

GENERAL CONCERT AND TICKET INFORMATION

• DOORS OPEN at 2:30 PM for a 3 PM concert start time.


• LATE SEATING is at the discretion of the House Management. Latecomers may be asked to remain in the back of the church until there is a break in the program, so as not to disturb the performance or other audience members.


• WILL CALL is available when the doors open at 2:30 PM inside the main doors of the church.


• CHILDREN seated on an adult's lap do not need a ticket. Children seated in a chair or pew need a ticket. 


• We no longer offer tickets for sale or any ticket pickup at the Parish House Reception desk.


• Audio and/or video recording and flash photography are not permitted during performances.

ACCESSIBILITY

• The Church of St. Ignatius Loyola is wheelchair/walker accessible via the ramp entrance on 84th Street (between Park and Madison Avenues).


• The restrooms are NOT easily accessible by wheelchair. The most easily accessible restrooms are in the Parish House (980 Park Avenue). There are two steps down from the street level into the Parish House and there is a restroom on that ground floor.


• For reserved seating concerts, there is available seating for wheelchairs and companions. Please look for the Wheelchair and Wheelchair Companion tickets when purchasing. For general seating concerts, follow the directions of the ushers. Please call ahead (212-288-2520) to discuss any special seating requirements.

PARKING

• Street parking can be difficult to find, but there are a number of parking garages nearby. There are garages on 83rd Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues) and 84th Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues), as well as near the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

RESTAURANTS

• There are a number of fine and casual eating establishments located nearby on Madison Avenue (one block west of the church), Lexington Avenue (one block east of the church), Third Avenue (two blocks east of the church) and Second Avenue (three blocks east of the church).

 DIRECTIONS

• The Church of St. Ignatius Loyola is easily reached via the 4, 5, and 6 subway lines (86th Street station), or buses on Madison, Lexington and Fifth Avenues, and on 86th Street.