ICHARD J. CLARK is an eclectic musician—composer, conductor, organist, pianist, and songwriter. In 2018, he was named as the Director of Music for the Archdiocese of Boston and choirmaster at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. He previously served for twenty-eight years as Music Director and Organist at St. Cecilia Parish, where he oversaw a thriving music program and helped develop the Smith and Gilbert Organ of six divisions and fifty-four ranks. He continues as Chapel Organist (Saint Mary’s Chapel) at Boston College, where he has served since 2004. As performer and composer, his appearances include the Church of Saint-Eustache (Paris, France), the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Washington D. C.), Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), the Celebrity Series of Boston, Fenway Park (historic home of the Boston Red Sox), the New York Songwriters Circle, and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral (New York).
The Ministry & Liturgy Magazine has called Mr. Clark’s music “transformative” as well as “expertly arranged and prayerfully sung.” His compositions have been broadcast on radio in New York, New England, and Europe, including Sounds from the Spires with Dr. Jennifer Pascual. In Russia, his organ work Ascent to Freedom was played by American virtuoso Mark Husey and the American Boychoir under the direction of Fernando Malvar-Ruiz. He also appears with his wife, clarinetist Kara Gretschel Clark, on the Cathedral Encores CD featuring the 1875 E. & G.G. Hook, opus 801, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. He also appears with trumpeter Richard Kelley in a recording of his Requiem pour une américaine à Paris. His liturgical, choral, and organ works are published by Lorenz/The Sacred Music Music Press, CanticaNOVA Publications, RJC Cecilia Music, Corpus Christi Watershed, and World Library Publications. Mæstro Clark is frequently chosen as presenter at international conferences such as the Sacred Music Symposium and the NPM Annual Convention.
ORN in Greenwich Village, New York City, Mr. Clark grew up in Long Island at St. William the Abbott Parish. While studying as a chemistry major at New York University, he also studied piano and composition with Justin Dello Joio. He received his Bachelor’s Degree at the Berklee College of Music in 1991 where he studied jazz piano and composition. He studied organ with James David Christie. In 1997 he completed his Master of Music Degree from the Boston Conservatory, and was elected to the National Music Honor Society, Pi Kappa Lambda. He currently lives with his wife and four children in Milton, Massachusetts where they are parishioners at St. Agatha Parish. To reach Richard J. Clark via Email, please click here.
