Biography
Born on 29 September 1949 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, Borla began vocal training at the age of twelve and later received a BA in music from Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois. She continued her education at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. During her time at the latter she joined Ineluctable Modality, a twelve-voice chamber ensemble whose programs featured contemporary composers such as Mauricio Kagel, Morgan Powell and Iannis Xenakis. While in Canada in 1986 she established a vocal jazz curriculum at the Saskatchewan School of the Arts. Three years later she launched the Janice Borla Vocal Jazz Camp, an enterprise whose mission she defined as providing ‘an educational and nurturing environment for aspiring jazz vocalists in an intensified, week long course of study and skills development conducted by a staff of professional jazz artists’. The camp has been widely commended for its aims and outcomes and has grown both popular and successful. A clear indication of teaching standards lies in the distinguished instructors who have served on its faculty over the years, among them Karrin Allyson, Jay Clayton, Sheila Jordan, Kitty Margolis, Judy Niemack, Judi Silvano and Roseanna Vitro. In live performance Borla has appeared alongside numerous leading jazz musicians, including Gary Bartz, Johnny Frigo, Terry Gibbs, Charlie Haden, Bobby Shew, Clark Terry and Bobby Watson, and has also fronted her own ensemble.
Throughout the early 2000s, while maintaining an active touring schedule, Borla held the post of Director of Vocal Jazz in the Jazz Studies Program at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, and was regularly engaged as a clinician by schools and conservatories across North America and Europe. A singer of striking ability, Borla’s inquiring mind produces performances of notable appeal while simultaneously sharpening her effectiveness as an educator, enabling her to draw the finest work from her students and thereby help preserve the enduring traditions of jazz singing.
Throughout the early 2000s, while maintaining an active touring schedule, Borla held the post of Director of Vocal Jazz in the Jazz Studies Program at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, and was regularly engaged as a clinician by schools and conservatories across North America and Europe. A singer of striking ability, Borla’s inquiring mind produces performances of notable appeal while simultaneously sharpening her effectiveness as an educator, enabling her to draw the finest work from her students and thereby help preserve the enduring traditions of jazz singing.
Albums
