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Janice Faber brings to her music eight years of intensive study of classical music, a college degree in music, and three decades of performing regularly (as a soloist, accompanying choral groups, with small ensembles and as part of an orchestra).
As a child, Janice was drawn to the piano, completely fascinated by the keyboard. At six she began to play by ear the music she heard around her. Starting at the age of ten, she could be found on the piano bench at church every Sunday accompanying the worshipers at the tiny church she attended in South Carolina. A few years later her music teacher discovered Janice has the gift of perfect pitch -- the ability to identify notes, chords and keys on various instruments just by listening. She began improvising and composing at an early age.
Through high school and college Janice dedicated herself to studying and performing classical music including works by Debussy, Chopin, Liszt, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and Brahms. She spent summers studying at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and the prestigious Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. She also received statewide recognition when she won the South Carolina Music Teachers Association Concerto Competition performing the Saint-Saëns “Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor.” She went on to study piano with William Phemister of the Wheaton College Conservatory, graduating with honors from Wheaton College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music. After college she spent a year living in Atlanta where she performed regularly, and after moving to Michigan she began playing at a large church with 3,000 members where services often include playing with an orchestra.
Faber’s first CD, Rest Assured - Hymns on Piano, was traditional church music arranged by Faber as quiet, gentle, lullaby-like solo piano music that she used for her own children at the end of the day to calm them down, relax them and get them to sleep. On its release Janice discovered the music was being used by people of all ages who needed peace, comfort and rest whether from the stresses of life or when facing an illness. Her second album, Measures of Grace, continued her interpretation of great hymns, but utilized a broader palette of sounds and arrangements.
On her third album, Carried Away, Faber musically captures a wide variety of emotions, images and moments inspired by people, places and even different times of the day. The resulting music bridges between new age, neo-classical and acoustic ambient with hints of church hymns and jazz-improv. “Other things I love to get carried away with -- laughter, time with my family, a sunset on the beach, performing for an appreciative audience, reading a good book, planting a flower garden, picking blueberries with my children. These are the experiences that bring me joy on a daily basis," says Faber.
“Music can not only carry you away, but also help carry you through. Music has the ability to change a person -- your mood, your feelings or even your way of looking at life. Music helps us worship, heal, and it calms us. Music is such a beautiful gift from God and I want what I do to honor Him. I'm hopeful that others will find peace and hope and blessing in the process."