Joy Comes in the Morning: Songs of the African American Experience

We invite you to experience an inspiring journey through music and faith at Joy Comes in the Morning: Songs of the African American Experience, presented by Dr. Lanu Stoddard and pianist Ms. Olga Rogach.

Held in the welcoming and sacred space of the Boston Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church in Boston’s Fenway, this powerful recital will feature vocal and piano works by celebrated African American composers, including Margaret Bonds, John Carter, Florence Price, and contemporary voices such as Calvin Taylor.

The program will include Lord, How Come Me Here?, an African American spiritual arranged by Moses Hogan, John Carter’s Cantata for Voice and Piano, and Margaret Bonds’ Three Dream Portraits, set to the poetry of Langston Hughes. Solo piano works, Clouds and Meditation by Florence Price, will provide moments of reflection, along with Calvin Taylor’s I Will Sing and Make Music and Bonds’ uplifting You Can Tell the World.

Enjoy this moving performance of vocal and piano pieces inspired by African American poetry and texts that speak to resilience, hope, and triumph. The program will also explore the spiritual depth of African American music, including a newly commissioned work that draws on the themes of Psalms 30, 67, and 69, and the message of hope in Revelation 21.

Through these lyrics, melodies, and timbres, you will be enveloped by the joyous promise of renewal, resilience, and the enduring power of faith. Dr. Stoddard’s performance, along with solo and collaborative works by Ms. Rogach, promises to be a stirring and memorable experience.

A musical message of joy, faith, and hope awaits you. We welcome you for an afternoon of reflection, inspiration, and community.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Performer Biographies:

Lanu Stoddart
Lanu Stoddart is a native of Lancaster, Massachusetts. Her joy of singing began in church and continued from grade school, through high school and college where she sang in choruses conducted by Pat Hicks, Susan Maurer, and James Bingham respectively. She has studied voice with Susan Maurer, Alexander Henderson, and Debra Patchell, and is currently studying with Jane Shivick in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Ms. Stoddart has performed solo for years, primarily in the New England Region, most notably at Mechanics Hall for the National Academy of Science, UMass Medical School, and Thayer Conservatory.

Dr. Stoddart is happily married with two children and currently serves full-time as the Medical Director for the Charles River Laboratories Cell Solutions Division.

Olga Rogach
Olga Rogach received a Master of Music degree in piano performance from Russia's famed St. Petersburg Conservatory. After graduation, she was appointed to the St. Petersburg Music College Faculty and became a featured pianist for the Literary Association of St. Petersburg and the All-Russian Theatrical Society. She emigrated to the U.S. in 1991 and made her home in Worcester, MA.

A leading regional piano teacher, Ms. Rogach maintains a private piano studio and is a private piano instructor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Many of her students have been prize and scholarship winners in international and local competitions.

Ms. Rogach performs extensively in New England and is acclaimed for her recitals and collaborations with instrumentalists and vocalists. She has been heard numerous times on WGBH Radio's Classics in the Morning and Morning Pro Musica.

For over 20 years, she was the official pianist for the nationally recognized Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship Foundation (Providence, RI). Ms. Rogach is a pianist and a board member for the Greater Worcester Opera Company and Music Director at First Parish Church of Northborough, MA.

More information about the composer, Calvin Taylor: http://www.calvintaylormusic.org/

Host or Publisher Boston Temple Concert Series