Sacred Music

Please contact Maria Balducci, Director of Music & Organist, if you are interested in becoming involved with the St. Joseph’s music program. (music@st-josephs.org)

“Indeed, through this form [sacred music], prayer is expressed in a more attractive way, the mystery of the Liturgy, with its hierarchical and community nature, is more openly shown, the unity of hearts is more profoundly achieved by the union of voices, minds are more easily raised to heavenly things by the beauty of the sacred rites, and the whole celebration more clearly prefigures that heavenly Liturgy which is enacted in the holy city of Jerusalem.” (Musicam Sacram, 1967)

Concert Series: 2024-2025

  • The Friday, October 18, 2024 evening concert moved to a different location. However, please join us Sunday, October 20, 2024 at the 10:30am Mass for a fully sung Mass. Paul Jernberg will conduct his recently composed Mass in Honor of Blessed Karl of Austria.
  • Saturday, November 2, 2024 at 7pm: Requiem Mass by Claudio Casciolini. On All Souls Day, the St. Joseph’s Choir offers the sung requiem Mass of Italian Renaissance composer Casciolini, in memorium of the parishioners, family members, and friends of St. Joseph’s who died in the past year.
  • Sunday, December 15, 2024 at 4pm: Traditional Lessons & Carols. Join us on Gaudete Sunday for readings and music to reflect on the Advent and Christmas seasons.
  • Sunday, January 12, 2025 at 4pm: Orange Line Brass Quintet. On the feast of the Epiphany, the local Orange Line brass quintet offers Christmas carols and other works for brass quintet and brass and organ.
  • Saturday, February 22, 2025 at 7:30pm: The Thirteen. Local DC professional choir, The Thirteen, under the direction of Gilbert Spencer, presents David Lang’s “the little match girl passion”, which overlays the classic Hans Christian Andersen fable of the little match girl with the Passion story; and Gabriel Jackson’s “to the field of stars”, which explores the theme of mysticism along the pilgrimage route El Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Tickets required.
  • Sunday, March 9, 2025 at 4pm: Music for Strings & Organ. Parishioners and professional musicians, Kati and Erik Whitesides (founders and members of the N Street Quartet) offer music for violin and viola, along with St. Joseph’s music director and organist, Maria Balducci. Theywill share classical and sacred works, especially suited for the Lenten season.
  • Sunday, May 4, 2025 at 4pm: Marian Concert. The third annual concert offered by the St. Joseph’s Choir, with motets and hymns in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mother.

The St. Joseph’s Choir

The St. Joseph’s Choir sings for the Sunday 10:30am Masses. Rehearsals are Thursdays from 7:30pm-9pm. The music encompasses the entirety of the Church’s rich history of sacred music, from centuries-old a cappella Gregorian chant to Renaissance polyphony to new works by living composers.  We also have a women’s and men’s schola which sings monthly for the Sunday 8:30am Masses.  Consider joining if you have a background in music or singing, and are looking to find a wonderful, faithful community within the parish. (Contact: Maria Balducci, Director of Music: music@st-josephs.org)

The St. Joseph’s Choir after singing for the Rite of Election at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, spring 2022.

The SJCA: St. Joseph’s Chorus Angelorum (Children’s Choir)

In the fall of 2022, St. Joseph’s added a children’s choir to our sacred music program. The Chorus Angelorum- choir of angels- has a two-fold mission: first, to teach the children proper singing technique, chants, hymns, motets, and the Mass ordinary and propers; second, to be exposed to Gregorian chant notation and Latin pronunciation and translation. The Chorus Angelorum is a part of Pueri Cantores, the international student choral organization of the Catholic Church, and participate in their annual regional festival Mass that gathers hundreds of local young Catholic singers. Rehearsals are every other Thursday from 6:30pm-7:30pm. (Contact: Maria Balducci, Director of Music: music@st-josephs.org)

St. Joseph’s Chorus Angelorum at the at Pueri Cantores 2023 Mid-Atlantic Youth Choral Festival at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, March 4th.

The St. Joseph’s Pipe Organ

Hook & Hastings (Opus 1487, 1891)

Nave, Gallery, and Pipe Facade: Photograph by Len Levasseur. Taken November 2010.

SUMMER 2024 UPDATE

The historic Hook & Hastings Op. 1487, 1891 pipe organ has been removed by the David E. Wallace & Co. LLC Pipe Organ Builders and will receive a full restoration. The organ was carefully dissambled the week of June 3, 2024, and will spend 12-13 months in Maine before returning to St. Joseph’s by fall of 2025. In addition to a full restoration, the hand-pumping mechanism will be restored/recreated and a new 16’ Trombone in the style of Hook & Hastings will be added to the Pedal division. St. Joseph’s is very grateful to all who contributed to this $600K+ project, an important project to maintain such a treasured piece of the church’s history.

During the time of restoration, St. Joseph’s will be using a smaller Hook & Hastings (c. 1875), restored by Meloni & Farrier in 2021. This pipe organ features four manual stops (three divided) and one pedal stop.

Specifications (Manuals, 58 notes; Pedal, 27 notes; 1, 577 pipes)

  • GREAT
  • 16 Open Diapason
  • 8 Open Diapason
  • 8 Doppel Flute
  • 4 Octave
  • 3 Twelfth
  • 2 Fifteeth
  • 1 1/3 Mixture III (174 pipes)
  • 8 Trumpet
  • SWELL (enclosed)
  • 16 Bourdon Bass
  • 16 Bourdon Treble
  • 8 Open Diapason
  • 8 Stopped Diapason
  • 8 Viola
  • 4 Flauto Traverso
  • 4 Violino
  • 1 1/3 Dolce Cornet III (174 pipes)
  • 8 Oboe & Bassoon
  • Tremelo
  • CHOIR (unenclosed)
  • 8 Geigen Principal
  • 8 Melodia
  • 8 Dulciana
  • 4 Flute d’Amour
  • 2 Piccolo
  • 8 Clarinet
  • PEDAL
  • 16 Open Diapason
  • 16 Bourdon
  • 8 Violincello

About the Musicians

Maria Balducci, Director of Music & Organist, began at St. Joseph’s in the fall of 2020, after 11 years in the same position at Holy Redeemer Church in College Park, MD. Maria holds a Master of Music degree from Roosevelt University and a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She has served as keyboardist for the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, accompanist for Chicago Opera Theater, and more recently, pianist with the Congressional Chorus and the National Children’s Chorus of DC. Her love of sacred music, organ, and choral music has led her to involvement in several organizations, most noticeably the American Federation Pueri Cantores, the student choral organization of the Catholic Church. She is also a member of CMAA, the Church Music Association of America.

Maria is originally from New Carrollton, MD, and attended St. Mary’s in Landover Hills and Georgetown Visitation. She currently lives in Alexandria, VA, with her husband, Michael Voigt, a firefighter for Fairfax County, and their four young boys.

Nancy House began singing with the Choir of St. Joseph’s on Capitol Hill in November 1997. A graduate of the Catholic University of America with a Bachelor of Arts in Music in 1996 and a Master of Arts in English Literature in 2001, Nancy studied voice under Raymond “Mickey” McGuire and Maryann Sewell. She has sung with the Washington Chorus and the Choir of All Saints Church in Washington. Her solo work includes the works of Strauss, Dvorak, and Barber, as well as Irish folk music. Nancy lives in Washington with her husband Robert and their two children.

David Mecher has been singing at St. Joseph’s since March of 2017. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, he spent seven years in choral music split between the Elder High School and Miami University Men’s Glee Clubs, four years of a cappella with Soul2Soul A Cappella, and was a cantor at Our Lady of Victory Parish in Delhi Township. David works at EARTHDAY.ORG and lives on Capitol Hill, where he also spends his weekday evenings singing with the Capitol Hill Chorale.

Leanne Repko has been singing as a cantor at St. Joseph’s on Capitol Hill since 2005. Originally from Hyde Park, NY, she graduated from Fordham University with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and American Studies in 2002. Leanne moved to Washington, DC, where she completed her Master of Public Policy at George Washington University in 2006. She enjoys singing across Washington, DC with several groups. She has been a member of the Capitol Hill Chorale since 2006, where she’s the Alto Section Leader, and sings with all-female acapella group Vox Pulchra. Leanne joined the Capitol Hill Chorale’s choir tour of the Republic of Georgia in 2019, where they performed alongside the Georgian State Choir and with the Kutaisi Opera Choir. She also sang with the Liturgical Choir for Pope Francis for the Canonization Mass at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception; performed the National Anthem at the Nationals Ball Park; and sang Carmina Burana with the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolftrap, among other local performances. She is a Healthcare Administrator with Inova Health System and enjoys traveling with friends and family.