Jan DeGaetani facts for kids
Jan DeGaetani (born July 10, 1933 – died September 15, 1989) was an amazing American singer. She was a mezzo-soprano, which means she had a middle-range female voice. Jan was especially famous for singing modern classical music.
Jan DeGaetani was born in Massillon, Ohio. She studied music at The Juilliard School, a very famous music school. People knew her for her incredible voice, which could sing a very wide range of notes. She had perfect pitch, meaning she could always sing the right note, and her voice sounded very clear. She was also great at special singing techniques needed for modern and avant-garde (very new and experimental) music.
Her recording of Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire is considered a classic. This piece is super hard to sing because it uses many different notes and a special singing style called sprechstimme, which is like a mix of singing and speaking. Jan DeGaetani made it sound easy! She also worked closely with the composer George Crumb. She was the first to sing his song cycle Ancient Voices of Children, and he wrote many other pieces just for her. Unlike many singers of her skill, Jan rarely performed in opera. Instead, she focused on solo concerts, singing what are called "art songs."
Jan was also very good at foreign languages, which helped her sing German songs called lieder. She sang and recorded works by famous composers like Hugo Wolf, Hector Berlioz, and Gustav Mahler. People admired her intelligence and how well she understood the meaning of the songs she sang. She was also excellent at singing songs in English, like those by Aaron Copland and Charles Ives. On top of all this, Jan DeGaetani was also known for performing much older music from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance periods.
Jan DeGaetani's Music Career
Jan DeGaetani first performed in New York in 1958. After that, she often sang with the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. She also performed with some of the world's most famous orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, and the Chicago Symphony. She made many recordings with these orchestras and with smaller chamber groups.
Teaching and Students
From 1973 until she passed away, Jan DeGaetani was a voice professor at the Eastman School of Music. She also taught at the Aspen Music Festival. She helped many young singers learn and grow. Some of her famous students include sopranos Dawn Upshaw, Karen Holvik, Renée Fleming, and Lucy Shelton.
Jan DeGaetani's Recordings
Here is a list of some of the recordings Jan DeGaetani made during her career:
- Songs From a Colonial Tavern as sung by Taylor Vrooman also with Marvin Hayes, Bass (1964)
- Pierrot Lunaire by Schoenberg (1971)
- Songs by Stephen Foster, with Leslie Guinn (1972)
- Las Cantigas de Santa Maria - Songs and Instrumental Music from the Court of Alfonso X, with the Waverly Consort, Michael Jaffee, dir. (1972)
- Songs from the Spanisches Liederbuch by Hugo Wolf (1974)
- Songs by Schubert / The Book of the Hanging Gardens, Op. 15 by Schoenberg (1975)
- Ancient Voices of Children by George Crumb (1975)
- Songs by Charles Ives (1976)
- Songs by Stephen Foster, Volume II with Leslie Guinn (1976)
- Classic Cole songs by Cole Porter, with Leo Smit, piano (1977)
- Chansons Madécasses by Ravel (1978)
- String Quartet #6 - A Whitman Serenade by Samuel Adler (1979)
- Songs by Sergei Rachmaninoff & Ernest Chausson (1980)
- Duets & Four Songs from Op. 98a by Robert Schumann, with Leslie Guinn (1983)
- Apparition by George Crumb / Songs by Charles Ives (1983)
- Songs by Brahms (1983)
- Moore's Irish Melodies (1984)
- Chansons de Bilitis and Fêtes Galantes by Debussy / Histoires Naturelles by Ravel (1984)
- The Nursery Cycle by Mussorgsky / Songs by Tchaikovsky (1985)
- Lullabies and Night Songs by Alec Wilder (1985)
- George Crumb: An Idyll for the Misbegotten/Vox Balaenae/Madrigals (Books I-IV) by George Crumb (1987)
- Songs of America on Home, Love, Nature, and Death - various composers (1988)
- Les Nuits d'été by Berlioz with Five Wunderhorn Songs & Five Rückert Songs by Mahler (1989)
- Jan DeGaetani in Concert, Volume One: La Chanson d'Eve by Gabriel Fauré / Dark upon the Harp by Jacob Druckman (1991)
- Jan DeGaetani in Concert, Volume Two: Frauenliebe und -leben by Schumann / Zigeunerlieder and other songs by Brahms (1991)
- Aaron Copland 81st Birthday Concert at the Library of Congress with Leo Smit (1993)
- Jan DeGaetani in Concert, Volume Three: Shostakovich, Welcher, Kurtág (1995)
- Jan DeGaetani in Concert, Volume Four: Early Music Recital by various composers (1999)
- Jan DeGaetani/Gilbert Kalish In Concert: Recital Performances from 1987 by various composers (2011)
Jan DeGaetani passed away in Rochester, New York, in 1989, when she was 56 years old.
