The Staff

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Director of Music

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Dr. Lenard Berglund:  "I was born in Pasadena, California. My three sisters and I all studied and participated in music from an early age. I began as a boy soprano, I also studied piano, violin, French horn and later choral and instrumental conducting. I completed my bachelor's degree in music education from CSU Fullerton and after an audition with the founding director, Roger Wagner, began a 27-year singing career with the Los Angeles Master Chorale. As I was finishing my master's degree in music from CSU Los Angeles, I enjoyed a full schedule of rehearsals and concerts with the Master Chorale, Los Angeles Philharmonic and many local churches. I have a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Music from USC. My specialty areas are Choral Conducting, Instrumental Conducting, Music History and Church Music. Around the time that I started on my DMA, I began working for USC as a part time employee and was hired full time in 1993 for the Los Angeles Cancer Surveillance Program where I have worked in my role as a Data Management Specialist for the past 32 years."​

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Organist

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Dr. J. Thomas Strout:  J. Thomas Strout, organist at First United Methodist Church of Whittier for over 40 years, earned his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at U.S.C.  A two-time Fulbright Fellowship grantee, he studied with the renowned composer-organist Flor Peeters in Belgium.  He has given recitals in New York, California, Utah, and Montana as well as in Australia, and has recorded for the Belgium Radio Network.

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