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STORYTELLER: \u201cMusic is the magic on which messages travel,\u201d says Burnett, noting that she tries to share her own journey with listeners. Photo credit: John Keon<\/p><\/div>\n
Janinah Burnett \u201902E (MM) was two when her Uncle Henry, a bass player, sat her down in a chair onstage during a show. A year or two later, she climbed into the lap of her father, legendary jazz drummer Carl Burnett, while he performed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came to this planet a musician\u2014a singer, specifically,\u201d she says. \u201cI know that I arrived here with the intention to do just that. And it happened that the universe supported me by placing me in a very supportive circumstance. Being around the music was home for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The music and vocal performance major at the Eastman School of Music now is an accomplished performer in her own right.<\/p>\n
Burnett, who studied classical and vocal jazz music at Spelman College, a historically Black liberal arts college for women in Atlanta, made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera and has sung for Margaret Thatcher and with Ray Charles. She has performed at the Tony Awards and at a private birthday celebration for Oprah Winfrey at the home of Maya Angelou.<\/p>\n
In more than 25 cities around the world, Burnett has starred in operas that include Porgy and Bess<\/em>, Don Pasquale<\/em>, La Traviata<\/em>, and Carmen<\/em>.<\/p>\n And she has earned glowing reviews.<\/p>\n Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ her role as Lolo in Harry Lawrence Freeman\u2019s Opera Voodoo<\/em>, the New York Times wrote that Burnett \u201ctreated her potentially campy role with the care and affection you might give a long-lost family heirloom while lifting it from a dusty box at the back of the closet.\u201d<\/p>\n Burnett, who lives in New York City, now stars as Carlotta Giudicelli and the Innkeeper\u2019s Wife in The Phantom of the Opera<\/em> on Broadway, where previously she starred as Mim\u00ed in Baz Luhrmann\u2019s production of La Boh\u00e9me<\/em>. In February 2021 she released her debut album, Love the Color of Your Butterfly (on her own label Clazz Records), named after a phrase her mother used when Burnett, growing up, wanted to be like someone else instead of following her own intuition.<\/p>\n Not wanting to be limited by genre or style, Burnett created her 13-track album with a mix of art songs by Black composers, oratorios, jazz, opera, spirituals, rhythm and blues, and show tunes.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”] Burnett is also behind \u201cI, Too Sing America: A Lament for the Fallen,\u201d a musical tribute through rhyme, reason, song, and spoken word to those whose lives have been taken through violence in Charleston, South Carolina; Ferguson, Missouri; Flint, Michigan; and elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cAs artists,\u201d she says, \u201cwe have a responsibility to translate the feelings of people into sound so that we can acknowledge what has happened and can heal.\u201d<\/p>\n The firm foundation in languages and technical support in singing she received at Eastman are, for Burnett, an integral part of her reputation as an in-demand singing actor.<\/p>\n Of her teacher Carol Webber, now a professor emerita of voice, Burnett recalls, \u201cThe way she encouraged me was very loving yet distant. She gave me the space to grow. She told me I have wonderful high notes, and I sing nothing but high notes now\u2014so many\u2014so I\u2019m always thinking of her.\u201d<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s Burnett\u2019s turn to do the teaching.<\/p>\n She\u2019s now working with two emerging professionals in her Midtown Manhattan vocal studio, La Janinah Voice Studio. (Adoring Italian fans call her \u201cLa Janinah.\u201d)<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been a joy to reiterate what it means to be an artist, what it means to prepare yourself to sing and perform on stage,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Burnett says her greatest love is showcasing her own creations for new and diverse audiences, a conglomeration of listeners who take her back to the word \u201cclazz.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s almost like a special looking glass through which to discover beautiful ways that the music is all connected,\u201d she says, \u201cand that we\u2019re all connected.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1648497658256{border-top-width: 1px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;border-top-color: #999999 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;}”]<\/p>\n
\nMeanwhile, she pursues creative musical projects on the side to challenge her artistry and heighten awareness of social justice.<\/p>\n<\/i><\/span>
\u201cI wanted to embrace all the musical styles that I cross paths with in this musical journey of mine,\u201d says Burnett, who coined the term \u201cclazz\u201d to describe the melding of the styles.<\/span><\/h6><\/blockquote>[vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]\u201cOriginally it was about classical and jazz coming together, but the musical field is so broad, and the roots are all connected somehow,\u201d she explains of the term. \u201cMy goal with this album was to show that it\u2019s all just storytelling. The storytelling is the link, and the music is the magic on which the messages travel.\u201d<\/p>\n