St. Patrick's Cathedral Choir Invited to Rome -- Sing-A-Thon Fundraiser Scheduled for April 15, 6 p.m. - Midnight

NEW YORK, April 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A six-hour Sing-A-Thon will take place at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan on April 15, from 6 p.m. until midnight to raise funds for the cathedral choir, recently invited to perform at a sacred music festival in Rome and Vatican city, in October.  

"We are delighted," said Jennifer Pascual, Ph.D., Director of Music at the Cathedral, "that our choir has been asked to participate in the 2010 Festival Internazionale di Musica e Arte Sacra in Rome."   St. Patrick's Cathedral choir is the only U.S. choir invited to perform at the festival this year and will be joining seven other choirs from around the world.  

Featuring Cathedral choir singers and professional accompanists, the Sing-A-Thon will present an extensive repertoire of continuous music during the six-hour event.  The event is free and open to the public; however, a donation to the choir is appreciated.  

"Tying our event in with April 15 is a friendly way of reminding everyone that donations to the choir are tax deductible contributions," said Dr. Pascual.

It will require approximately $165,000 to send fifty five choir members to Rome.  The cathedral choir has been engaged in various fundraising efforts, including the publication of a St. Patrick's Cathedral Choir cookbook, for sale in the gift shop, and Cabaret-style music events, featuring St. Patrick's singers.

St. Patrick's is an iconic New York institution while also being, in the words of Archbishop Timothy Dolan, "America's parish church."  

"The choir will be proud to represent the cathedral, our city, and our nation, in Rome," Pascual said.

The Festival di Musica e Arte Sacra (http://www.festivalmusicaeartesacra.net/en/) was founded in 2002 to create public awareness for the institutional activities of the Fondazione Pro Musica e Arte Sacra, which promotes culture, music and religious art and raises funds for the restoration of religious artefacts and buildings.  The Festival promotes and draws a wide audience to world-class religious music performances held in beautiful sacred venues of Vatican city.

About St. Patrick's Cathedral Choir

The Cathedral of St. Patrick Choir, directed by Dr. Jennifer Pascual, is predominantly a liturgical choir, and the heart of the music program at North America's most prominent Roman Catholic cathedral.

Acclaimed former music directors include Pietro Yon and Charles Courboin. Established in its present form by the late John Grady, the Choir is made up largely of volunteer singers and a small professional group, and prepares music from every era for many liturgies and other special events throughout the year.  These include the 10:15 Mass each Sunday (from the first Sunday after Labor Day until the Solemnity of Corpus Christi), the annual A City Singing at Christmas and Irish Heritage concerts, and the nationally televised Midnight Mass for Christmas.

In its liturgical role, the Choir has performed for many heads of state and the Secretary General of the United Nations, and with soloists such as Renee Fleming and Placido Domingo.  In 1995, the Choir sang for His Holiness, Pope John Paul II at the Mass in Central Park and the recitation of the Rosary at the Cathedral of St. Patrick.  With the founding of the Friends of Music at St. Patrick's, under the late John-Michael Caprio, the choir expanded its concert activities and has since been featured on the BBC's popular "Songs of Praises" television series, Nippon Television, NBC's "Today" show and ABC's "Good Morning America".

The Choir has recorded several CDs and performed with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Wroclaw Philharmonic, members of the Vienna Philharmonic on PBS, the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein, and at events for the Richard Tucker Music Foundation.  The choir sang for Masses at the Cathedral of St. Patrick and Yankee Stadium and an Ecumenical Prayer Service during the 2008 visit to New York by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI.  In May 2008, the choir had the distinguished honor of performing for President George W. Bush at the White House for the National Day of Prayer.

SOURCE St. Patrick's Cathedral Choir