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Views from the Choir Loft

Sounds from the Spires • SiriusXM Radio • Jennifer Pascual

Richard J. Clark · February 26, 2016

INCE 2006, Dr. Jennifer Pascual, Director of Music for Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, has been hosting the radio program “Sounds from the Spires.” It can be heard SIRIUSXM 129 Radio, The Catholic Channel.

It was in 2006 that the Archdiocese of New York began its venture into radio programming on Sirius Satellite Radio. Jennifer Pascual was asked to host a show on sacred music. Reticent, as she had no prior radio experience, she is now a veteran in the field, and quite a natural. Anyone listening to the program can hear her easygoing voice and demeanor, putting guests at ease as they talk about sacred music.

AVING BEEN ON THE SHOW a few times, I recently joined Jennifer at the SiriusXM Studio in Midtown Manhattan. (Co-blogger Chris Mueller and his amazing compositions have also been featured on this program.) The studio is a couple of blocks from Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and across the street from Radio City Music Hall and NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.” Making the environment even more interesting, Howard Stern, who fuels most of SiriusXM Radio’s subscriptions, broadcasts down the hall from The Catholic Channel along with several other shows.

Needless to say, Jennifer Pascual and I stuck out like a sore thumb in the lobby among the others in the entertainment industry who were there that day. Jennifer doesn’t care. Her down-to-earth demeanor on the air is exactly who she is off. For someone who has played for popes and presidents, she is as unpretentious a musician as you will ever meet.

“Sounds from the Spires” can be heard at the following times:
Saturday: 1am–2am & 11:00pm-12:00am
Sunday: 6:am-7am & 8pm-9pm
(All Eastern times)
The Catholic Channel • SIRIUS XM 129

MY SIX-YEAR-OLD SON PUT ME IN MY PLACE before our interview. My daughter, who is eight, said, “Daddy is lucky because he is famous because he is being interviewed.” My son responded: “No, he’s not famous. Never, ever! Only God is famous.” This, coming from a boy who loves getting into mischief, especially if it gets a laugh from his siblings and disapproval from his parents. But here he was dead serious and spot on!

OUR RECENT INTERVIEW WILL AIR THIS WEEKEND. (2/27, 2/28) Featured on the program are the following:

• Communion Antiphons for Lent | SATB, Organ, Assembly • World Library Publications

• Variations on Misereris Omnium | Introit for Ash Wednesday • RJC Cecilia Music

• By the Rivers of Babylon | Soprano, piano, cello • RJC Cecilia Music

• Magna Opera Domini | Commissioned for the ordination of Bishop Steven Lopes. • RJC Cecilia Music

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Richard J. Clark

About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

4 March 2021 • Can you spare 15 seconds?

Due to Covid-19, California has basically been under “lock down” for 11 months, and these restrictions have had quite a detrimental effect on our choral programs. We are frequently limited to just 2-3 singers, on account of regulations by the government and our Archdiocese. However, although the number of singers is quite small, I was struck by the beauty of the singing last Sunday. Listen to this 15-second live excerpt and see if you agree?

—Jeff Ostrowski
3 March 2021 • “A policeman” — really?

According to Monsignor Frederick R. McManus, there were “policemen” serving the Sanhedrin in the time of Our Blessed Lord. Look at this awful translation in the 1966 “Saint Andrew Bible Missal” from 1966. Yuck!

—Jeff Ostrowski
Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“One must pray to God not only with theologically precise formulas, but also in a beautiful and dignified way. The Christian community must make an examination of conscience so that the beauty of music and song will return increasingly to the liturgy.”

— Pope Saint John Paul II (26 February 2003)

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