Soprano


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Songs of Hope

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Recent recordings:

Locklair: Symphony of the Seasons
(Naxos, August, 2007)
Songs of the Cotton Grass: Tann (Zimbel, October, 2007)
Dan Locklair: Chamber Works (Albany, 2004)
The Shining Place (Elmgrove, 2006) So Much Beauty (Elmgrove, 2004)
Living Mysteries (Elmgrove, 2002) So Great a Joy (Elmgrove, 2001)

  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, in November of 2005 she created the death-defying role of Konstanze in Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio for Tacoma Opera.  Other regional performances that year included Tacoma Symphony’s performance of Rachmaninov’s The Bells, Lake Union Civic Orchestra in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Carmina Burana with Choral Union, Messiah with the Bellevue Philharmonic, and for Bremerton Symphony, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, and a recital performance of Messiaen’s La Mort du Nombre with Dr. James Brown and pianist Oksana Ezhokina. This season she was heard in Carmina Burana  in a Benaroya Hall performance with Rainier Symphony, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Bremerton Symphony, and Messiah with Helena Symphony under Alan R. Scott, and Verdi's Requiem with Kirkland Choral Society.  In previous seasons, she has been a guest artist with many distinguished choral and orchestral organizations including 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 many times are the Verdi Requiem, the Brahms  German Requiem, Haydn’s Creation,  and Mozart’s Mass in C-Minor.  She has worked under the batons of many fine conductors including, in addition to the above, Gerard Schwarz, James DePreist, Sidney Harth, Dean Williamson, Charles Bontrager, Christophe Chagnard, Fusao Kajima, 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.
An active recitalist, she has been a featured artist on numerous concert series programs and music festivals, including a 2001 residency for the prestigious Messiah Festival of Music and Art in Lindsborg, Kansas.  In October of 2007 she will sing the world premiere of the song cycle Cummings’ Suite that she commissioned from composer Dan Locklair.  The performance will be in Brooklyn , New York at Grace Church, and will be repeated at Union College in Schenectady .  The recital will also be sung in Seattle at Plymouth Congregational Church, and in Lagerquist Concert Hall at Pacific Lutheran University .   Joining Ms. Houston will be pianist/organist Paul Richard Olson and oboist Shannon Spicciati.  Other premieres and featured composers are Carol Sams, Simon Sargon, Lori Laitman, Bern Herbolsheimer, and Gregory Youtz.
     On the opera stage, 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.
     In August of 2007, she is featured on a new Naxos release of orchestral works by composer Dan Locklair. She sings a triptych for soprano and string orchestra titled Lairs of Soundings, which is based upon  texts by Northwest poet, Ursula LeGuin. The work was recorded last fall with the Slovak Radio Radio Orchestra in Bratislava , Slovakia , with Kirk Trevor conducting.   Also in the fall of 2007, a recording for Zimbel Records titled Songs of the Cotton Grass features Ms. Houston with oboist Shannon Spicciati performing the cycle of the same name by 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).   In 2004 her work was featured in two 12 minute 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 radio program With Heart and Voice and New Releases on Minnesota Public Radio.  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.  
   B
orn 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 Founding and Managing Member of Northwest Artists, a musicians’ cooperative, and Elmgrove Productions.

(Note to publicists: Do not alter bio without consulting the artist)

 

Recent and Upcoming Performances
Beethoven: 9th Symphony LUCO, Town Hall, Seattle June 24, 2005
Mozart: Abduction from the Seraglio (Constanze) Tacoma Opera with Northwest Sinfonietta November 5 & 6, 2005
 Orff: Carmina Burana Lagerquist Concert Hall, Pacific Lutheran University November 11 & 12, 2005
Handel: Messiah Bellevue Philharmonic December 3 & 4, 2005
Mozart: C-Minor Mass Bremerton Symphony December 17, 2005
Recording (Elmgrove): The Shining Place Contemporary Songs in English January, 2006
Recording (Naxos); Orchestral Music of Dan Locklair Bratislava, Slovakia, Slovak Radio Orchestra September, 2006
 Orff: Carmina Burana Kirkland Choral Society November 19, 2006
Handel: Messiah Helena Symphony, Helena MT December 3, 2006
 Orff: Carmina Burana Choral Sounds Northwest at Benaroya Hall March, 2007
Beethoven: 9th Symphony Bremerton Symphony May, 2007
Verdi: Requiem Kirkland Choral Society May, 2007
Locklair: "Symphony of the Seasons" (Lairs of Soundings) Recording release, Naxos July 30, 2007
Hilary Tann: Songs of the Cotton Grass Recording Release, Zimbel Records October, 2007

  * Recital of World Premieres (details below) with Paul Richard Olson and Shannon Spicciati

Grace Church, Brooklyn, NY October 12, 2007, 8 p.m.

  * Recital with Paul Richard Olson and Shannon Spicciati

Union College, Schenectady, NY October 14, 2007, 3 p.m.
Judith Lang Zaimont: Remembrance (World Premiere) Portland Symphonic Choir October 27 & 28, 2007
Handel: Messiah Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestra Dec. 14, 2007

  * Recital of World and West Coast Premieres with Paul Richard Olson and Shannon Spicciati

Plymouth Congregational Church, Seattle, WA February 10, 2008, 2:00 p.m.

  * Recital of World and West Coast Premieres with Paul Richard Olson and Shannon Spicciati

Lagerquist Concert Hall, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA February 12, 2008
Poulenc: Gloria Cantare Vocal Ensemble, Seattle Bach Choir, Eastside Master Chorale, Vashon Chorale, and Sammamish Symphony at Benaroya Hall April 27, 2008, 2:00 p.m.
Mahler: 4th Symphony Orchestra Seattle June 8, 2008, 7:00 p.m.
Handel: Messiah Messiah Festival of Music and Art
Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas
April 5-12, 2009
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
(Contessa Almaviva)
Helena Symphony April 13-18, 2009
Brahms: A German Requiem Bremerton Symphony May 9, 2009


*
Recital programs contain: World Premiere of Cummings' Suite, Dan Locklair, text by E.E. Cummings, commissioned by Janeanne Houston; East coast premiere of Songs of the Cotton Grass, Hilary Tann; World premiere of work for soprano, oboe, and piano by Carol Sams; World premiere of Fragments: Songs of Hope, soprano, oboe, piano, Gregory Youtz; live performance of recording premieres released on The Shining Place. Songs of Lori Laitman and Simon Sargon. East coast premiere of a work by Seattle composer, Bern Herbolsheimer.

 

Sound Clips from "Living Mysteries"

Ich halt es mit dem Lieben Gott  -  JS Bach

O Magnum Mysterium - Morten Lauridsen
Et incarnatus est - WA Mozart Quasi Menuetto - R. Vaughan Williams
Lullaby - Dan Locklair Salutation - Gerald Finzi

 

Sound Clips from "So Great a Joy"

Christmas Song, Alan Hovhaness

Lullaby, Randall Thompson
Lullee, Lullay, William Bergsma Love is His Name, James Holloway
Mary's Magnificat, Andrew Carter O Glorisoa Dominina, Michael Head
Come Sing and Dance, Herbert Howells Corpus Christi Carol, Benjamin Britten


More Clips:

Nun beut die flur from The Creation by Haydn
Davidde Penitente aria by Mozart