Janice Jackson
| Janice Jackson
graduated from the Utrecht Conservatoire (Netherlands) in 1990 with a
Commendation for her interpretation of 20th century music. Since then, she
has been in great demand as an interpreter of modern music. She has sung in
modern music festivals and concert halls internationally, including Wien
Modern (Vienna), The Proms (Amsterdam), IRCAM (Paris), and Big Torino 2000
(Turin). Recently she has performed 4 world premieres, 2 in the Scotia
Festival, another with Array Music, Toronto in May, 2001 and another in
Denmarkís Diem Festival, June 2001. |
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| Her 20th century
repertoire ranges from Berio, Cage, and Nono to Schönberg,
Webern, and Dallapiccola. She has performed more than 70 world premieres,
many written specifically for her. In 1995, she sang the world premiere of
Orpheus, a work for soprano and orchestra by Greek composer Theo Abazis,
with the Stuttgart State Ballet. In 1997, Jackson premiered Travelings, a touring program of five solo pieces based on the ancient classical music of France, Netherlands, India, Japan, and Byzantium, each written specifically for her by a different composer. Her recent (2000) solo concert series, Out There and Beyond, consisted of true vocal acrobatic works to pure theatre and provided her with an opportunity to make her Toronto debut in the Music Gallery. |
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| Jackson is currently a
member of several modern music ensembles including the Schreck Ensemble for
Electroacoustic Music (Amsterdam), the Upstream Orchestra (Halifax) and the
Noir Angels Quartet (Halifax). She has also been a frequent guest artist
with many modern music ensembles throughout the Netherlands, including The
New Ensemble (Amsterdam), The Basho Ensemble (Utrecht), and The Interval Chamber for Microtonal Music (Amsterdam). While Jackson's repertoire includes some of the most demanding music of the 20th century, she is also a lover of cabaret and jazz standards, and her concert programs often combine elements of the Obscure and the Absurd. She enjoys teasing her audience with a musical mélange ranging from operatic arias to Scottish folk songs mixed with unexpected elements such as Cathy Berberian's Stripsody (based on American comic strips), Louis Andriessenís Beatles Songs or a Piazzolla tango! She has recently launched her new tango band, Tango Extasis, to rave reviews and a packed house! |
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| Jackson has made many radio recordings with Dutch radio stations and can be heard on several CD's, including Blue Age by New Age composer Coen Bais, Serenians by Utrecht Deep Artment, and Import by the Escher Ensemble. | |
| REVIEWS | |
| Recent Canadian Reviews: |
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| "Jackson is a
no-holds-barred, no-quarter-given performer with a gift for dramatic
exaggeration that compels an audience's attention from the first note to the
last." THE HALIFAX HERALD, October 1, 2001 |
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| "Jackson's vocal
versatility and virtuosity, her precisely focused sense of pitch and her
intensely creative commitment to new music make her a real find." THE HALIFAX HERALD, December 6, 2000 |
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| "Jackson is a vivacious
performer, with a voice that will do anything she wants it to do. And what
she wants to do is give each song its own life, no matter how long or how
short it is." THE HALIFAX HERALD, November 20, 2000 |
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| "...a crystal-cracking
voice of astonishing purity." THE HALIFAX HERALD, September 25, 2000 |
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| "Her vocal power and range
of material engage all of you: your senses, emotions, wit, intellect, goose
bumps and especially your soul." THE DAILY NEWS, (Halifax), August 18, 2000 |
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| European Reviews: | |
| "Janice Jackson strong in
Cage, Berio, and Dallapiccola." (Headline) DE LIMBURGER (Maastricht, Netherlands). December 16, 1992 |
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"Canadian soprano Janice Jackson's performance of
Luciano Berio's Sequenza III for solo voice was breathtaking Ö a very
talented singer with a very exact performance."
Stad Amersfoort (Amersfoort, Netherlands) November 26, 1993 |
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| "On Saturday night, the
best performance was given by soprano Janice Jackson. She sang a beautiful
performance of Luciano Berio's Sequenza III, but the high point was the
Debussian Michelle by L. Andriessen." Het Parool (Amsterdam, Netherlands) May 10,1993 |
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| "Music can move you.
Listening to the singing of Janice Jackson brought a deep sadness to my
soul, sadness that perhaps had to do with the realization that such an
intense experience of music seldom happens." De Limburger (Maastricht, Netherlands) October 25, 1994 |
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