Joanne Rogers

Sara Joanne Rogers ( Byrd; March 9, 1928 – January 14, 2021) was an American musician who was the wife of television host and minister Fred Rogers.

Biography Sara Joanne Byrd was born in Jacksonville, Florida, to Wyatt Adolphus Byrd, a coffee salesman who later worked for the United States Postal Service and Ebra Edwards Byrd, a housewife who shared her love of music. Joanne liked to play ragtime on the piano, and did so by ear. She began taking piano lessons at the age of 5.

She studied music at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, where she earned a bachelor's degree in piano performance. It was also there that she met her future husband, Fred Rogers.

She went on to earn a master's degree in music at Florida State University. She studied with Hungarian composer and conductor Ernst von Dohnányi.

In 1952, she and Rogers married. Rogers was an American television host and producer, and would go on to create the popular children's TV series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. They had two sons together, James Byrd Rogers and John Rogers.

Fred and Joanne Rogers and their son James, November 17, 1960.

Joanne taught at Chatham College's preparatory school of music in the 1950s. In the early 1970s, she taught for four years at Carlow College. In 2019, she received an honorary degree from Duquesne University.

Professional career

Music As a duo concert pianist Joanne performed with her longtime friend, Jeannine Morrison, from Georgia. They began performing concerts in the 1970s. The musicians recorded two albums, Duo-Piano Favorites and A Virtuoso Duo-Piano Showcase. She retired from her musical career around 2016 due to arthritis. She embarked on her first media tour in 2003, to promote the release of The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember, a collection of his speeches and other writings.

Discography

1995: A Virtuoso Duo-Piano Showcase, Jeannine Morrison and Joanne Rogers, ACA Digital Recordings 1997: Duo-Piano Favorites, Jeannine Morrison and Joanne Rogers, ACA Digital Recordings

Notes and references