The Troy Arts Council has added two events to its 2013 calendar, both in the month of March.

The arts council will sponsor Dr. Robert Cowan in a piano master class on March 19 and the TAC will host a special program, “Discovering the Psalms,” on March 20.

The piano master class will be at 1 p.m. on March 19 for Troy University students and the public and Cowan will present a special performance at Troy Elementary School earlier in the day.

“Discovering the Psalms” will be given by Michael Morgan of Atlanta at 6 p.m. on March 20 and will be co-hosted by First United Methodist Church in Troy.

Dr. John Jinright, TAC presenter chair, said Cowan has had an outstanding career as a concert pianist, both as a soloist and as a member, with his wife, of the duo-piano team Joan Yarbrough & Robert Cowan.

“They have performed and recorded throughout the world,” Jinright said. “Dr. Cowan is a graduate of the Julliard School and Eastman School of Music. He continues a distinguished and impressive performance schedule.”

Jinright said the “Discovering the Psalms” program is a good introduction to the Psalms for the whole family and a wonderful lesson for those who have never encountered singing the Psalms. The program is free and open to the public.

“Mr. Morgan will demonstrate how the Psalms have traditionally been sung and teach the audience new ways to sing them,” Jinright said. “Isaac Watts once said that, when we read the prose Psalms, God speaks to us but when we sing metrical Psalms, we speak to God.

“In the last decade, many churches have sought to reclaim some of those elements of worship that we have lost over the years. There is almost nothing closer to the heart of worship than metrical Psalms, yet until recently little attention has been paid to incorporating them regularly in worship.”

For more information about the Cowan’s master piano class, contact the office of the J.M. Long School of Music at 334-670-3322.