Composing seriously since 1986, Jane Ellen has more than 40 pieces published and a catalogue of over 300 works. These include works for chamber orchestra, choir, piano, violin, cello, woodwind quintet, string trio, voice, and various other chamber ensembles. She has collaborated with playwright Christina Hamlett on several theatre projects, including the two-act musical The Last Days of Indian Summer and works frequently in collaboration with lyricist Claire Roth (ASCAP). She recently composed the theme for the documentary The Man Who Lost the Civil War, as well as for the internet radio show, Sonic Soaps, and is currently working on a two-act musical, Burying Mama, with playwright Kathleen Matthews.

Now residing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, California native Jane Ellen has traveled extensively. Her early years were spent in private schools at home and abroad. For several years she had her own jazz and variety band and worked in a number of musical theatre productions whilst completing her degree with majors in Music Performance and Religious Studies. She graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1992, summa cum laude, with distinction.

Jane has received annual awards from ASCAP since 1990 and won several competitions. Her Ritual Postlude, a winning composition in the SAI Centennial Convention Competition, was premiered at the convention in Dearborn, MI in August 2003 and subsequently published in the Centennial Supplement Songbook. In 2000 she was commissioned by the Canossian Daughters of Charity, FdCC, to compose a hymn on the occasion of the canonization of St. Josephine Bakhita. This piece, Lead Us To Christ Jesus, is currently being performed around the world in three languages. Other commissions include Danse des Esprits, an organ work for the American Guild of Organists’ District VII Regional Convention, San Antonio, TX; the anthem Hearts and Hands United (text by Claire Roth [ASCAP]), written for New Life Presbyterian Church, Albuquerque; the piano work Images of Rome, an MTNA Foundation commission for the state of New Mexico; a woodwind quintet, Elegy for the Children of Sarajevo, for the New Music Across America Festival; as well as pieces for various ensembles and performers.

Jane's works have been showcased internationally at the C.S. Lewis Summer Institute at Cambridge University, England; in Hong Kong; Canada; Mexico; Australia; the conservatory Centro Musical Dinâmico, affiliated with the Colégio Dinâmico in Goiás, Brazil; and at the Universidad de los Andes in Venezuela.

An avid history buff, Jane Ellen spends much of her time researching and presenting lecture programs on her favorite topics: The Dead Sea Scrolls; Mediaeval Music; Hildegard of Bingen; Joan of Arc; The Alamo: History, Myth and Music; Music of the American Civil War; Music in the World of Anne Frank; Music of World War II and Popular Music Appreciation. When not engaged in musical pursuits she enjoys old movies, classic mystery and adventure novels, and studying Italian.