Janice Giteck (born June 27, 1946 in New York) is an American composer.

Biography

Giteck grew up in

Hicksville, Long Island Hicksville is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York. The population of the CDP was 41,547 at the 2010 census. History Valentine Hicks, son-in-law of abolitionist an ...

and moved to

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

when she was twelve years old. She attended

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...

, completing her Master's in 1969 and studying under

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

. She later studied under Olivier Messiaen, and following this she studied Indonesian

gamelan Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...

music with Daniel Schmidt and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

with

Obo Addy Obo Addy (January 15, 1936 – September 13, 2012) was a Ghanaian drummer and dancer who was one of the first native African musicians to bring the fusion of traditional folk music and Western pop music known as ''worldbeat'' to Europe and ...

. Janice Giteckat Allmusic.com Her works came into wide circulation in the 1970s and 1980s, with a style heavily influenced by world music and the music of American Indians. Awards for her music include the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

Composer's award for ''Breathing Songs from a Turning Sky'', and the Norman Fromm Composers Award for ''Thunder, Like a White Bear Dancing''. Giteck returned to school and received a Master's in psychology in 1986, and worked in the mental health field from 1986 to 1991. She has taught at

Cornish College of the Arts Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914. History Cornish College of the Arts was founded in 1914 as the Cornish School of Music, by Nellie Cornish (1876–1956), a teacher of ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

since 1979. Her 1992 recording collection ''Home (Revisited)'', released on

New Albion New Albion, also known as ''Nova Albion'' (in reference to an archaic name for Britain), was the name of the continental area north of Mexico claimed by Sir Francis Drake for England when he landed on the North American west coast in 1579. Thi ...

, is dedicated to AIDS patients. Her music has been described as influenced by world and ritual music. In a 1999 joint interview with composer Ann Sandifur, Giteck and Sandifur described themselves as “life-oriented, not career oriented,” noting that they sought to be “versatile rather than specialized.”

Discography

* ''New Performance Group in Music'' (

Mode Records Mode Records is an American record label in New York City that concentrates on contemporary classical music and other forms of avant-garde music. The label was founded by Brian Brandt in 1984, with a goal of releasing music composed by John Cage. ...

, 1988) * ''Home (Revisited)'' (

, 1992)

Partial list of works

* ''Thunder, Like a White Bear Dancing'' (1977) * ''Callin' Home Coyote'' (1978) * ''TREE'' (1981) commissioned by San Francisco Symphony * Soundtrack, ''Hopi:Songs of the Fourth World'' (1983) * ''Breathing Songs from a Turning Sky'' (1980; revised 1984) * ''Om Shanti'' (1986) * Soundtrack, ''Hearts and Hands'' (1987) * ''Tapasya'' (1987) * ''Leningrad Spring'' (1992) * ''Home (Revisited)'' (1992) * Soundtrack, ''Rabbit in the Moon'' (1999) * Soundtrack, '' Daddy & Papa'' (2002) * ''Ishi'' (2004) commissioned by Seattle Chamber Players * Accompanying music to Rene Yung's installation ''Four Dignities'' (2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giteck, Janice 1946 births 20th-century classical composers American women classical composers American classical composers Cornish College of the Arts faculty Living people People from Hicksville, New York Pupils of Darius Milhaud 20th-century American composers 20th-century American women composers