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 also serves as the Director of Music of the New York Archdiocesan Festival Chorale.
Dr. Pascual is a member of the American Guild of Organists; 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. Jennifer served as a juror during the 2014 Organ Festival at the Catholic Cathedral in Moscow and 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, Jordan, Lebanon, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Spain, 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. 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, Jordan 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.
In December 2008, Dr. Pascual was named a Dame of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in recognition of service to the Church. She was the 2018 recipient of the Paul Creston Award. She was a 2019 recipient of the Linda Berry Stein College of Fine Arts Honored Alumni Award of Jacksonville University. In 2021, Jacksonville University conferred a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree, honoris causa, upon Jennifer.
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.