Currently making her home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jane Ellen has travelled extensively. Her early years were spent in schools both at home and abroad. For nearly a decade she worked in a number of musical theatre productions, and played in various jazz and variety bands (including her own).
Jane holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New Mexico where she was graduated in 1992, summa cum laude, with distinction, having double majors in Music Performance (Piano) and Religious Studies. As an undergraduate she was awarded membership in Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI). She was the first recipient of the Friends of Religious Studies Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement. As a graduate student she received a Tuition Fellowship and completed 15 hours toward a Master of Music degree in music composition. In 2002 she received permanent Professional Masters certification from the Music Teachers National Association in Washington, DC.
Her first CD, From My Heart , was released in 2004 followed by a sequel entitled Seasons of the Heart , in 2005. A new CD, Flowers in Winter , was released in 2007. She holds several professional memberships including the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP); SAI American Composers Bureau (serving as National Director); and the Center for the Promotion of Contemporary Composers . She has also been included in various biographical references including: Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in Classical Music, and 2000 Outstanding Musicians of the 20th Century.
Jane has received consecutive annual awards from ASCAP since 1990 and has won six national competitions. Her Ritual Postlude, a winning composition in the SAI Centennial Convention Competition, was premiered at the national convention in Dearborn, MI in August 2003, and subsequently published in the Centennial Supplement Songbook. In 2000 she was commissioned by the Canossian Daughters of Charity, FdCC, to compose a hymn on the occasion of the canonisation of St Josephine Bakhita in Rome. This piece, Lead Us To Christ Jesus, is currently being performed around the world in three languages.
Recent commissions include Sword of Hope (text by Claire Roth), written for the patronal feast day of St Michael and All Angels Church, Albuquerque, 2006; Lorena Remembered and several arrangements for the Equinox Chamber Ensemble, 2005; the anthem Sing Out With Praise (text by Roth), written for the 50th Anniversary of Asbury United Methodist Church, Albuquerque, 2005; Danse des Esprits, an organ work for the American Guild of Organists’ District VII Regional Convention 2003; Hearts and Hands United (text by Roth), written for the 2001 Celebration at New Life Presbyterian Church, Albuquerque; and the three-movement piano work Images of Rome, an MTNA Foundation commission, 2000.
Dancing in Deep Heaven, a chamber orchestra suite based on the writings of C S Lewis, was presented as part of the annual C S Lewis Summer Institute at Cambridge University, England; another piece inspired by Lewis, Unknown Gardens, for cello and piano, was introduced in 1996.
Remaining passionate about theatre, Jane has collaborated with playwright Christina Hamlett on several projects, including the two-act musical The Last Days of Indian Summer and the mini-musical Ed Poe and the Ravenettes, and works frequently in collaboration with lyricist Claire Roth (ASCAP). She composed the theme for the documentary The Man Who Lost the Civil War as well as the theme for the internet radio show Sonic Soaps. Music from her first two CDs was used as the soundtrack for radio productions written and produced in London, England by Chris Dale, A Cream Cracker Under the Settee and Elaine; while the two-act musical Burying Mama , written with playwright Kathleen Matthews, is currently in negotiations for production.
For several years Jane collaborated on scripts for the national award-winning children’s radio program Boombox Classroom . Her poems Reenactment and Alone in Misty Light were published in both print and audio editions by the International Library of Poetry in 2001 and 2005 respectively.
An avid history buff, Jane spends much of her time researching and presenting lecture programs on her favourite topics which include Mediaeval Music; Hildegard of Bingen; Jeanne d’Arc; Elizabeth Regina; the Elizabethan Era; Shakespeare; The Napoleonic Era; The Alamo; Music of the English and American Civil Wars; The Victorian Era; Music Heard on the Titanic; Music of World War I; Music in the World of Anne Frank; Music of World War II; Jazz History; Popular Music Appreciation; Military Music of all Eras; and World Music. When not engaged in musical pursuits she enjoys classic mystery and adventure novels, passionately following international and English county cricket, watching new and old Doctor Who, and studying Italian.
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