Artist's Statement
Joy is often thought of as a synonym to happiness, but to have unconditional joy is more about finding hope amidst the longing.
Opening our hearts to healing.
In a broken world where it is so easy to fall into a state of emotional numbness, letting the light in anyways.
Sharing unconditional joy with others is the why of what I do as a musician and creative.
Music is able to express the deepest parts of who we are, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn about and be a part of so many unique rich traditions that showcase the human condition throughout the ages.
Through voice, trumpet, composition, poetry, and other mediums, I am devoted to telling stories, growing in empathy and compassion, and being vulnerable with my art, in hopes of creating an opportunity for connection, reminding us what it means to be human, and to find the joy.
- Janelle Finton
Janelle is a lifelong learner, and as an educator, invites her students into the practice of creativity, through curiosity. In Chicago, she teaches private lessons, workshops, and directs jazz combos at Rolling Meadows and Buffalo Grove High School. She has directed the ILMEA District 7 Jazz Band 2, and was the 2024 and 2025 jazz trumpet and voice instructor for the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp.
Finton holds a B.M. from the Frost School of Music where she studied with Brian Lynch, as well as Etienne Charles, Dafnis Prieto (improvisation), and Dr. Kate Reid (voice). She also worked with artists such as John Daversa, Maria Schneider, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Luciana Souza, Jihye Lee, and Regina Carter, where she orchestrated and arranged John Daversa’s arrangement of “Dancing in the Street” for Regina and the Frost Jazz Orchestra. In 2021 she played lead trumpet in the world premiere of Chucho Valdes’ “La Creación”, at the Arsht Center. As a member of Jazz Vocal Ensembles, she won two Downbeat awards. In 2023 she was chosen to represent Frost in the International Association of Schools of Jazz conference where she spent a week performing original music in Helsinki, Finland.
Janelle currently resides in Chicago and is continuously grateful for all the opportunities she has to share joy with people through her music! Contact Janelle for any performing, composing/arranging, or teaching inquiries!
Biography
Fascinated by many modes of creativity, Janelle Finton is a trumpeter, vocalist, composer, and poet who approaches music making and storytelling with wonder.
Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, Janelle has a diverse musical background in the traditions of classical, jazz, contemporary, theater, and sacred music. Elements of all these styles blend together in her performing and writing to create her unique sound of a warm and clear tone on the trumpet, lush orchestration in her arranging, technical virtuosity and conversational intimacy in her voice, vulnerability in her lyrics, and intentionality in her melodies, within both her compositions and improvisation.
She has played with groups such as the Maria Schneider Orchestra as a featured vocalist, the Grace Fox Big Band, the John Daversa Big Band, the Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra, DIVA Jazz Orchestra, and NYO Jazz at Carnegie Hall, where she toured Europe and Asia with Sean Jones, Dianne Reeves, and Kurt Elling. As a theater musician, she has subbed for productions of Beehive, White Christmas, and Catch Me if You Can at the Marriott Theater, and Legally Blonde through Music Theater Works.
As a composer, she has been recognized by Downbeat, the American Composer’s Forum, and is published with Brava Jazz, and Anchor Music. In 2024, she debuted her folk/jazz/chamber group joygarden, and had her concert band piece Midwest Clinic premiere through a commission by John Hersey High School. In 2025 she was commissioned by Carnegie Hall as an arranger for NYO Jazz, and conducted the premiere at Carnegie, and on tour in Latin America.
Photos by Savannah Methner
Memory Gallery
Defining moments of Janelle's career
