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JaneanneHouston.com

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    Janeanne Houston has been praised by the Seattle Times as a “radiant voiced and very communicative” singer, by Gramophone as “Unfailingly responsive and dedicated”, by Classical Voice of North Carolina as a “magnificent singer” with “a beautiful voice and stunning interpretive skills” and The Journal of Singing remarked “such praiseworthy singing”  and  “a flawless sense of style.”   .
    One of the region’s busiest artists, she has worked under the batons of many fine conductors including,  Gerard Schwarz, James DePreist, Sidney Harth, Dean Williamson, Charles Bontrager, Christophe Chagnard, Fusao Kajima, British conductor Hilary Davon Wetton, Richard Sparks, and Miguel Harth-Bedoya, with whom she sang the Mater Gloriosa in the first Oregon performance of Mahler's Eighth Symphony in 2002. Her recent opera roles have been Elisabetta in Don Carlo in 2010, Countess Almaviva in Nozze di Figaro for Helena Symphony in 2009, and Konstanze in Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio for Tacoma Opera in November of 2005.  Other recent performances include Tacoma Symphony’s performance of Rachmaninov’s The Bells, multiple performances of Verdi’s Requiem, Mahler’s Symphony No. Four with Orchestra Seattle, Lake Union Civic Orchestra’s  Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Carmina Burana with Choral Union and Rainier Symphony, Messiah with the Helena Symphony, Bellevue Philharmonic, and Messiah Festival in Kansas, and for Bremerton Symphony, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, Beethoven’s 9th, and  Brahms’ A German Requiem.   She has been a guest artist with many distinguished choral and orchestral organizations which include Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Northwest Sinfonietta, Eugene Symphony and Opera, Great Falls Symphony, Helena Symphony, and Spokane Symphony.  Among the works she has performed most frequently are the Verdi Requiem, the Brahms Requiem, Haydn’s Creation, Poulenc’s Gloria, and Mozart’s Mass in C-Minor.  
    She sang the role of Mary with the late Jerome Hines near the end of his career, in his Biblical opera I am the Way and has also shone in other operatic roles which include Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Violetta in La Traviata, Blanche in Dialogues of the Carmelites, and Micaela in Carmen.   At this point in her career, she is focusing primarily on roles in the Verdi repertoire and the more dramatic roles of Mozart.
    An active recitalist, she has been a featured artist on numerous concert series programs and music festivals, including  2001 and 2009 residencies  for the prestigious Messiah Festival of Music and Art in Lindsborg, Kansas. In the fall of 2007, she did a recital tour in New York State where she premiered a song cycle that she commissioned from North Carolina composer Dan Locklair.  She also performed works by composers Lori Laitman, Simon Sargon, Carol Sams, and a premiere by Welsh composer, Hillary Tann.  Her interest in performing the music of living composers has become a passion, and she has had several cycles written for her.  She sang the premiere of a work titled Remembrance by Judith Lang Zaimont with Portland Symphonic Choir in the fall of 2007.
    In 2007, she was featured on a Naxos release of orchestral works by composer Dan Locklair. She sang a triptych for soprano and string orchestra titled Lairs of Soundings, based upon texts by Northwest poet, Ursula LeGuin. The work was recorded with the Slovak Radio Orchestra in Bratislava, Slovakia, with Kirk Trevor conducting.   A recording for Zimbel Records titled Songs of the Cotton Grass features Ms. Houston with oboist Shannon Spicciati performing the cycle of the same title by Welsh composer Hilary Tann. In January 2006, Ms. Houston released a new recording of world premieres by living composers titled The Shining Place (Elmgrove Productions)Other recordings include The Irish Songs of Sir Hamilton Harty (Deogloria), So Great a Joy 2001, Living Mysteries 2002, and So Much Beauty 2004 (Elmgrove Productions).   Later that year her work as singer and executive producer was featured in two 12 minute chamber works for soprano on the Albany Records release Chamber Works of Dan Locklair.    Her recordings have been broadcast on radio stations across the country, and were featured on the syndicated NPR program With Heart and Voice and on New Releases from Minnesota Public Radio.  Her written progress/goal reports for her 2002 recording were featured in Classical Singer Magazine.  Her discography includes recording premieres of songs by Richard Hundley, Lori Laitman, Simon Sargon, J. Mark Scearce, Dan Locklair, David Burge, Hilary Tann, Carol Sams, Edwin Penhorwood, and Paul Moravec.  Ms. Houston has been a finalist and a second place winner in the Northwest Regional Metropolitan Opera auditions, and won a Crystal award in the Scammon vocal competition in Denver in 2002.
    Born in Kansas City, Ms. Houston spent her childhood years in Myanmar, India, and the Philippine Islands. She received her education at Ottawa University and the University of Washington, and is presently a member of the voice faculty at Pacific Lutheran University.  She is the founder and Managing Member of Northwest Artists, a musicians’ collective management, and is the owner/founder of Elmgrove Productions.

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