Janika Vandervelde (born 1955) is an American composer, pianist, and music educator. Her work, notable for its

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and ecological themes, has won numerous awards. Known for her music for

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

chamber ensembles Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

and the stage, she also teaches composition.

Biography

Janika Vandervelde was born in

Ripon, Wisconsin Ripon is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,733 at the 2010 census. The city is surrounded by the Town of Ripon. Ripon is home to the Little White Schoolhouse, the commonly recognized birthplace of ...

, and grew up in nearby Green Lake, playing horn and piano starting at age five. She began composing in her teens. After undergraduate studies in

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

at the

University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire (UW–Eau Claire, UWEC or simply Eau Claire) is a public university in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's and master's degrees. UW–Eau Claire ...

, she relocated to the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, earning a doctorate in

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

(1985), where her teachers included

Dominick Argento Dominick Argento (October 27, 1927 – February 20, 2019) was an American composer known for his lyric operatic and choral music. Among his best known pieces are the operas '' Postcard from Morocco'', '' Miss Havisham's Fire'', ''The Masque of An ...

and Eric Stokes. She has taught intermittently at the University of Minnesota School of Music, and teaches regularly at

Hamline University Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline o ...

and at the

Perpich Center for Arts Education The Perpich Center for Arts Education is an agency of the state of Minnesota that seeks to advance K-12 education throughout the state by teaching in and through the arts. A campus in Golden Valley houses the center's three main components: the ...

, a residential high school for the arts in Golden Valley, Minnesota. Vandervelde is the author o
''Music by Kids for Kids''
a composition curriculum designed for computer labs equipped with

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

keyboards, published by the

American Composers Forum The American Composers Forum is an American organization that works for the promotion and assistance of American composers and contemporary classical music. It was founded in 1973 as the Minnesota Composers Forum and is based in Saint Paul, Minn ...

. She was associate conductor of the Mississippi Valley Chamber Orchestra, and also served as music director at Wesley United Methodist Church in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Compositions

Vandervelde is known especially for her choral music, which has been commissioned and performed by groups such as Chanticleer, the

Dale Warland Singers The Dale Warland Singers (DWS) was a 40-voice professional chorus based in St. Paul, Minnesota, founded in 1972 by Dale Warland and disbanded in 2004. They performed a wide variety of choral repertoire but specialized in 20th-century music and c ...

, and the

Oregon Repertory Singers The Oregon Repertory Singers (ORS) is a mixed vocal ensemble in Portland, Oregon, founded in 1974. The choir performs a wide range of works from all time periods and languages, although over the years a special emphasis has been placed on contempo ...

, and by conductors including

Sir David Willcocks Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambrid ...

. She has composed more than 100 works for orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles, and soloists, as well as two operas, ''Hildegard'' (1989) and ''Seven Sevens'' (1993), and has written extensively for young audiences. Among the fruits of her three-year tenure as composer-in-residence for th
Minnesota Chorale
and two other Twin Cities organizations was
Adventures of the Black Dot
', a "choral storybook" for children, with story by Judy McGuire and staging by Kari Margolis. Recent projects include choral music fo
''The Student''
a collaboration with choreographer-director Vanessa Voskuil, and a 65-minute electronic soundscape for ''Diana Takes a Swim'', a collaboration with dancer-choreographer Deborah Jinza Thayer. Vandervelde's work is published b
earthsongsAugsburg Fortress

Boosey & Hawkes Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and woodwind musical instruments. Formed in 1930 throu ...

, an
Miela Harmonija

Reception

Vandervelde's music has been warmly received. She has been called "a passionate experimenter and ingenious explorer of new sonorities" and "a composer whose style reflects a freely inquisitive artistic personality." Most notably, the feminist musicologist

Susan McClary Susan Kaye McClary (born October 2, 1946) is an American musicologist associated with " new musicology". Noted for her work combining musicology with feminist music criticism, McClary is professor of musicology at Case Western Reserve University ...

argued that Vandervelde's piano trio "''Genesis II'' moves metaphorically through a series of natural, cultural, and historical worldviews, holding them in tension and contradiction." McClary also argued that "Vandervelde's use of a rhythmically insistent but harmonically ambiguous academic

minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...

xpressesfemale embodiment and pleasure." McClary's

readings of Vandervelde's work, along with her readings of other composers, ignited a debate in musical criticism and scholarship. ''Genesis II'' (premiered and recorded by the Mirecourt Trio) is discussed at length i
''Take Note''
an undergraduate music-appreciation textbook by musicologis
Robin Wallace
published in 2014 by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

; the work is part of the book's "core repertory."

Awards

Vandervelde has won numerous awards for her work as a composer, including multiple Bush Artist Fellowships and

McKnight Foundation The McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based family foundation, advances a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive. Established in 1953, the McKnight Foundation is deeply committed to advancing climate solutions in ...

Composer Fellowships. She is also a recipient of the

Lili Boulanger Marie Juliette "Lili" Boulanger (; 21 August 189315 March 1918) was a French composer and the first female winner of the Prix de Rome composition prize. Her older sister was the noted composer and composition teacher Nadia Boulanger. Biography ...

Award from

The Women's Philharmonic The Women's Philharmonic (TWP) was a San Francisco-based, professional orchestra founded by Miriam Abrams, Elizabeth Seja Min and Nan Washburn in 1981 and disbanded in 2004. History Originally known as the Bay Area Women's Philharmonic, in 1998, ...

of San Francisco.

References

External links

janikavandervelde.com
official website
Kelly, Jennifer, "Janika Vandervelde" (interview), ''In Her Own Words: Conversations with Composers in the United States'' (University of Illinois Press, 2013).

Pendle, Karin, "Janika Vandervelde," ''Grove Music Online'' (subscription required)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vandervelde, Janika 1955 births 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers American music educators American women music educators American women classical composers American classical composers Living people Singers from Minnesota American opera composers University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire alumni People from Ripon, Wisconsin People from Green Lake, Wisconsin Singers from Wisconsin 21st-century American composers Women opera composers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American composers 21st-century American women musicians Classical musicians from Minnesota Classical musicians from Wisconsin 20th-century women composers 21st-century women composers 20th-century American singers