Thursday, October 1, 2026
Valley Stream composer Leonard J. Lehrman has been appointed interim music director at St. James Episcopal Church, in Dutchess County’s Hyde Park, for the first half of 2026.
St. James, founded in 1811, is widely known for its long association with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt. Sometimes referred to locally as “the Roosevelt Church,” the parish maintains an active congregational life and hosts annual historic graveyard tours that highlight prominent figures and longtime community members.
Lehrman, a Valley Stream resident and co-owner of Court Street Music since 1999, began serving the Hyde Park parish on Christmas Eve after responding to a national vacancy notice distributed through the American Guild of Organists. He was initially engaged to provide music for Christmas Eve and several Sundays following a sudden opening in the church’s music program. When the need continued into February, he was asked to remain.
The Rev. Meredith Kadet Sanderson, rector of St. James since November 2022, appointed Lehrman as interim music director after consultation with the wardens, who lead the vestry, while the parish conducts a search for its next settled minister of music.
“Leonard has been enthusiastic and joyful about being part of our community,” Sanderson said. “He often stays for coffee hour and enjoys chatting with parishioners. His willingness to make such a significant drive to be with us really demonstrates his passion for music and commitment to community life.”
Sanderson, an Episcopal priest, oversees worship, preaching, education and pastoral care at St. James, and works with parish leadership on administrative matters. She said continuity and stability in worship are priorities during the interim period, along with music that supports congregational participation.
Lehrman’s responsibilities include accompanying hymns, providing preludes and postludes, and working with the choir.
“It’s not difficult to choose the music, and I have a very large library of church music that I’ve accumulated over the years,” Lehrman said.
He plays the organ and piano for services. The church’s organ requires maintenance, and Lehrman has been assessing needed repairs. Many services are accompanied by a piano.
He has provided music for Sunday services as well as Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday observances and is scheduled to serve three or four Sundays per month through the end of June.
Lehrman worked in church music for decades, serving congregations across Long Island and the metropolitan area since the 1980s. His previous positions included churches in Malverne, Babylon, Huntington and Hempstead. He also worked in congregations in New Jersey and New York City.
“Living in Valley Stream,” Lehrman said. “I’m close enough to these places that it’s not impossible to do that.”
In addition to his church work, Lehrman is a composer whose catalog includes operas, choral works and liturgical music. He has written more than 20 works for church and synagogue use. Among them is a musical setting of the Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document closely associated with Eleanor Roosevelt’s diplomatic legacy.
Other liturgical works include settings of the Prayer of St. Francis and musical settings of healing prayers, performed in church and interfaith contexts.
Lehrman was the first president of the Long Island Composers Alliance and has worked as a reference librarian at the Oyster Bay–East Norwich Public Library since 1995, where he has helped catalogue materials related to Theodore Roosevelt.
In January, Lehrman presented the New York City orchestral premiere of his opera “Sima” at Theater for the New City. An edited and subtitled video of that production will be shared during an online event on April 19 at 2 p.m., commemorating the centenary of his uncle, Edgar H. Lehrman, who translated the literary work that inspired the opera.
“Good music and congregational singing are the true joys of worshiping together in community,” Sanderson said. “Having Leonard as a stable musical presence will help us continue providing excellent, welcoming worship to everyone in our wider community.”
