CV 

Janice Mautner Markham is a Los Angeles-based violinist/composer with experience in a wide array of musical genres including experimental, blues, jazz, Latin, African, Irish, with a focus on folk styles of Eastern Europe including Yiddish/Klezmer, Balkan and Ukrainian. Janice's multi-disciplinary performance and instruction connect directly with a commitment to social justice and human rights. She is a founding member of the Klezmer-Rock band, Mostly Kosher, and her global strings ensemble, The JAC Trio. 

CURRENT UNIVERSITY FACULTY POSITIONS

LECTURER

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES (UCLA) 2023-Current

Faculty in Dept of Ethnomusicology at Herb Alpert School of Music 

Director of UCLA Klezmer Ensemble 

GUEST LECTURER

  DRAKE UNIVERSITY, Des Moines, IA - 2024

Lecturer and co-facilitator for World Music course 

Klezmer workshop covered the history of Klezmer music and performance presentation 

           GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE, St. Peter, MN - 2022 

                        Lecturer/instructor for strings class 

                        Workshop classes included various bowing and finger-placement techniques, improvisation folk music styles

           UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES (UCLA) 2019-Current

Lecturer for Music Education undergraduate students - 2024

                        Lecturer and instructor for UCLA Klezmer Ensemble - 2019-2022

Workshop co-facilitator for UCLA School of Music - 2020

 “Mostly Kosher: Klezmer and Jewish Roots Music 

Members of L.A.’s very own Jewish roots ensemble, Mostly Kosher, present a workshop exploring their creative process of integrating klezmer and Yiddish music with various other musical styles.

ADDITIONAL TEACHING ASSIGNMENTS

 SHALHEVET DAY SCHOOL (2015 - 2019)

                        Guest lecturer and music educator for Yiddish and Klezmer music workshops

          JEWISH YOUTH ORCHESTRA - JYO (2012 - present) 

                        Music Director of the music ensemble, a project of the Jewish Federation of San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys       

          VOX BOX ARTS COLLECTIVE, INC.   (1992 - present)                                     

Artistic Director of VOX BOX, a nonprofit interdisciplinary arts group dedicated to  presenting performance, film,                                                                                               and visual arts to children and adults of diverse incomes, cultures, and abilities. Director for Vox Box sponsored 

Caja de Arte, Spanish Immersion arts education camps and workshops               

    www.voxboxarts.org

EDUCATION

    UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM, UK 

PhD in Musicology (Spring 2027)

            ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

                        Masters in Social Justice and Human Rights, Music/Arts Emphasis, summa cum laude 4.0 (Spring 2023) 

            UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, Philadelphia, PA

                        Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with honors (1989)

                        Major, theater – Minor, music 

      ORCHESTRATION

                        Completion of beginning and advanced orchestration courses with Dr. Norman Ludwin (2021)

            PRIVATE VIOLIN INSTRUCTION 

                        Heiichiro Ohyama (former principal violist, Los Angeles Philharmonic)

                        Harold Ayres (former concertmaster, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra)

                        David Stenske (former asso. concertmaster, LA Opera Orchestra) 

VIOLIN PERFORMANCE

            RECENT PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS:

The Carpenter Center, Long Beach, California - December, 2024

    A double bill with Klez-Icons, The Klezmatics

Los Angeles Philharmonic special performance  – February 2020

                                    Musik! Fantasie! Revolution! Los Angeles Philharmonic Weimar Republic concert series 

                                      www.laphil.com/musicdb/artists/7294/janice-mautner-markham

                        The Kennedy Center, NYC - February 2020

                                    The Black Version performance (violinist/house band member since 2011)

                                                90% of music improvised

                        Soraya Performing Arts Center, Northridge, CA - November 2020

                                    One of three violinists featured in the documentary release about the Violins of Hope, 

instruments rescued from the Holocaust

                        Skirball Cultural Center – Mostly Kosher Album Release Concert – February 2022

                                    Sophomore album of acclaimed klezmer ensemble (numerous Skirball performances from 2010 to present)               

  The Music Center, Los Angeles, CA – August 2019

                                    Performed at the grand re-opening of the Music Center Plaza, Los Angeles

                        Orchestral Performances:

                                    South Dakota Symphony (Music Director - Delta David Gier)

                                                2021-2022 season - 2nd violin section 

                                    San Bernadino Symphony (Music Director - Anthony Parnther)

                                                2021-2022 season - 2nd violin section 

            OUT OF THE BOX HIGHLIGHTS

                        Vitebsk music video (Spring 2024)

                                    This collaboration with Emmy® Award winning art director Keith Mitchell features 

                                    Janice’s original tune, Vitebsk, the first track on the Mostly Kosher album, “This

                                    World is Yours”. The music video includes handmade puppets and 

                                    sets made of reclaimed found-objects and recycled fabrics and cardboard, and has won 

    awards on the festival circuit

                        Write Now! final presentation at the LA Times Festival of Books (2014)

                                    Vox Box Arts Collective presentation of creative writing projects - spoken 

                                    word with improvised accompaniment from Triumph of the Egg rhythm section 

Meet Me At the Metro (2012)

                                    Collaboration with Rogue Artist Ensemble providing entertainment

                                    to those riding the metro with performances outdoors in and around 

                                    the subway stops (violinist/composer)                            

                        Create/Fixate - visual art pop-up large scale gallery installations & live music performance

                                    Performed at and Co-curated multiple events including 

                                    AMP: Art - Music - Politics in 2008 

                                    createfixate.com

Somnambulist at the Museum of Neon Art (2000)

                                    Duo project with partner Gideon Markham in the creation of prerecorded 

                                    soundscapes mixed live with live improvised violin by Janice Mautner Markham

                        Women & Appliances (1993-1999)

                                    Developed by Janice Markham and Helen Wilson, W & A explores the agony 

                                    and ecstasy of "women's lives in these times" through the use of everyday 

                                    household appliances. It’s super hilarious. This work premiered at the VOX 

                                    BOX FunRager and was later performed at the Real Post Other Performance 

                                    Art Festival, made possible in part by The California Arts Council, J.Paul Getty 

                                    Trust Fund and the NEA. 

            MOSTLY KOSHER:                                                                           

             Founding member of klezmer-rock ensemble - violinist, vocalist, composer and arranger (2010 to current)

        Performance collaborations with The Klezmatics, Jerusafunk, Craig Taubman, Anthony Russell, 

    Cantors Faith Steinsnyder, Lizzie Weiss, Juval Porat, Marcus Feldman and Lisa Peicott  

Single release  "Hanuka Dance" Dec. 24, featured on the Klezmatics album, "Happier, Joyous  Hanukkah"

  Album release “This World is Yours” February 2022

  Ensemble invited to perform and record at UCLA spring 2022 as part of a new series, "Secret Chord”          sponsored by the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Enperience 

            Performance venues include Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Skirball Cultural Center John Anson Ford Amphitheater, The Cerpenter Center, Long Beach and Soka Performing Arts Center

                 Festival performances – the Orange Country Yiddish Festival, Claremont Folk Festival and the 

   Silicon Valley Jewish Music Festival           

 Eight seasons at Disney’s California Adventure Park Festival of Holidays (2016 – 2025)

      Winner - World Music Network’s Battle of the Bands: “Ikh Hob Dikh Tsufil Lib”, 2015

 Music Videos:

"Vitebsk" (2024)

    Numerous Film Festivals, including The Los Angeles Music Video Festival, The Greater Phoenix 

    Jewish Film Festival and the Philadelphia Jewish Film festival 

            “This World is Yours” (2022)

             Screened at the Experimental Film Festival - 2022 

  “V’shamru” (2020)

            “Klezmer Pokemon Theme Song featuring The Filharmonic vocalist VJ Rosales (2016)

            “Crawdad Bulgar” (2016)

                                                           Winner, Best Music Video at the Glendale International Film Festival,  2016                                             

                                                “Ain’t No Sunshine” (2016)

                                                “Ikh Hob Dikh Tsufil Lib” (2014)

                                                          nominated for Best Song and People’s Choice for the music video “Ikh Hob  Dikh Tsufil Lib” at Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema, 2015   

            THE JAC TRIO                                                                                  

Founding member of the global string ensemble, along with violists Amira Bennett/Jennifer Wu and cellist Circe Diaz Gamero, presenting music genres from around the world

·       Ensemble in residence at Pico Union Project (2015-2019)

·       Commendation from the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce

·       Ongoing collaborations with Mostly Kosher accordionist, Gee Rabe, Cantors Lizzie Weiss and Lisa Peicott, multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Cantor Jenni Asher and percussionist Emilia Desiré

COMPOSITIONS

            Theater scores

                        Off-Broadway hit “Grandma Sylvia’s Funeral” - original incidental music (violin) 

                        Numerous tour productions for Vox Box Arts Collective

                        Additional sound design for horror feature film The Black Room, 2017

Vitebsk Original klezmer composition – first track from the Mostly Kosher album “This World is Yours”

            Film scores

                       Created original opening music for feature film The Accursed, 2021

                        Score composed and performed, Ron and Laura Take Back America,  2014

            Ensemble collaborations 

                        Numerous songs/compositions/arrangements with Mostly Kosher, The Fullbliss, Triumph of the Egg      

  Arranngements: (highlights)

    Kol Nidre (by Bruch) for string trio 

   Csak Egy Kislany (Hunganrian folk tune) for string trio, accordion and vox

   Danse Champetre (by Rosy Wertheim) for string trio

   Vitebsk (by J Mautner Markham) arranged for Mostly Kosher and string orchestra     

   La fille aux cheveux de lin (by Claude Debussey) arranged for wind quintet

DISCOGRAPHY

    South Dakota Symphony 

    2nd violin section

                                    An Atlas of Deep Time (2022) by Grammy®-winning composer John Luther Adams, with Maestro David Delta Gier

            Mostly Kosher 

    Co-founder of iconic Klezmer-rock band

    Hanuka Dance (2024)

Produced by Mostly Kosher for the Klezmatics album, "Happier, Joyous Hanukkah"

                             This World is Yours (2022)

                                     Produced by Eva Reistad (Grammy®-winning mixologist, Score mix asst. Dune 202, Captain Marvel 2019)

                             Mostly Kosher (2014) 

    Produced by Mostly Kosher, mixed by Eva Reistad

            Chuck E. Weiss

  Yes, that "Chuck E.'s in Love" Chuck E. 

Red Beans & Weiss (2014) 

                     Produced by Tom Waits and Johnny Depp

The Orphics 

Accordion and rando instruments collective

Purity (2008)

The Fullbliss 

Los Angeles birthed art-rock quartet

Fools and Their Splendor (2001)

Revolution Songs (1997-2007)

Bedroom Session (1996)

Jud

(A&M Records)

Chasing California (1998)

Janet Robin   

Grammy®-winning guitarist, song-writer    

All that You Needed  (1998)

RESIDENCIES 

    Artist in Residence - Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust (2022 - present)

Participation includes musical performance, curation of concerts, youth music education, lecture series, and musical   

companion presentations to temporary exhibitions. 

Presented "Women Composers Silenced by Nazi Germany" Fall 2023

      Artist in Residence - Pico Union Project (2015 - 2019) 

                        As a solo artist and as a member of The JAC Trio, participation in numerous projects at this ground-breaking community  venue

            Artist in Residence - Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum (2005-2010)

                        (Now the Craft Contemporary)

                        Created musical landscape as a solo artist and with the New Folk Trio Triumph of the Egg 

                        for numerous exhibits including “Some Assembly Required: Race, Gender, Culture”, 

                        Psanky: Ukrainian Eggs and We are The Folk (full list available)

An experience of The Egg is like a gourmet cake; each layer of musical genius has its own taste, it’s own subtle influences mixed with unique ingredients to wet our musical palette with delight. Their unique musical style evokes both romantic histories and modern experimentation - I have yet to meet a person untouched by their magical spell!

              - Maryna Hruchetska, Former Executive Dir. Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum 

WRITING/EDITING 

            DISNEY ENGLISH   (2006 - 2009)    

•   Member of core curriculum development team (hired as music/arts specialist)

•   Co-created arts/education program for all elementary levels

•   Authored scripts for the students’ final music and theatrical presentations 

•   Created content for upper elementary chapter books

            PUBLICATION CREDITS 

                                    Journal of the IAWM - International Alliance for Women in Music (Spring 2021)

                                    Diccionario de Criaturas Mágicas (Dictionary of Magical Creatures) Vox Box Press (2013)               

                                    Ben 10: Midnight Madness - Cartoon Network (2010)

                                    Powerpuff Girls: Jewel of the Aisle - Cartoon network (2009)

                                    Gwen 10: A Change of Face - Cartoon Network (2009)

                                    Grandma Sylvia’s Funeral (co-writer credit) - Samuel French (1998)

                                    Wrath of a Daydream: The Funeral of James Baldwin - African American Review (Winter, 1995) 

THEATER CREDITS  (partial list)

            Broadway: Ahmanson Theatre, Music Center, Los Angeles, CA 

                        Violinist understudy for Lisa Gutkin for the summer 2019 run of the Broadway touring show Indecent

            Off-Broadway: Grandma Sylvia’s Funeral and The Boychick Affair

                        (Numerous regional theater credits as musician/actor)

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS & AFFILIATIONS

            American Federation of Musicians (Local 47)

            Actors Equity Association 

            Society for Ethnomusicology

            International Association of Women in Music 

            Women in Theater

            ASCAP

    Mamas in Music (USA/UK)

    Guild of Temple Musicians

            Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) 

• Facilitator for the LGBTQ+ Affinity Group for the 2023 and 2024 APAP Conferences in NYC)

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:

            URBAN VOICES PROJECT – Local Los Angeles Non-profit Arts and Wellness Organization

                        Urban Voices Project (UVP) uses music to create supportive community spaces that bridge      

vulnerable individuals to a sense of purpose and improved health.     

• Participated in administrative support for community projects

• House band musician for numourous events and performances including "C'mon Sing" and "Coffee House"

• Liason for group collaborations 

            STREET SYMPHONY – Local Los Angeles Non-profit

Street Symphony has been a mentor organization to UVP, and has been a lead organization in bringing  music to underserved areas. Participation has included bringing ensembles to Midnight Mission and other locations in the greater Los Angeles area. 

            LEADERSHIP LAB – a project of the Los Angeles LGBT Center

                        Volunteer work has included bringing awareness to LGBTQ causes, fight discrimination, 

                        and working towards voting accessibility 

            JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES - Non-profit community organization 

Participation has included performances for Café Europa Holocaust survivor groups in  Los Angeles since 2010.

REFERENCES:

Dr. Diane White-Clayton 

UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music - dwhiteclayton@g.ucla.edu

Director of the African American Music Ensemble at UCLA and music collaborator

     Dr. Mark Kligman

        Director of the Lowell Milkin Center for the Study of American Jewish Experience, and UCLA Herb Alpert  School of Music Professor of Ethnomusicology - mkligman@schoolofmusic.ucla.edu

       Professor Betsy Schneider, Art Professor 

                                    Arizona State University 

                                     Art professor at ASU - ejschneider@asu.edu

                        Professor Gee Rabe, Professor of Music and Director of CSUN Steel Drum Ensemble

                                    California State University, Northridge

                                     mentor and colleague - gigi.rabe@csun.edu                  

Nina Silver, Director of Noah’s Ark and Family Programming, Skirball Cultural Center 

        arts presenter - nsilver@skirball.org

ADDITIONAL RANDOM ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF J.M. MARKHAM

•    Fellowship at Institute for Jewish Creativity – 2017 (Music focus) American Jewish University

•   Certification in Stage Combat by the Association of American Fightmasters (1988)

•   Co-Producer of Kosher QueerFest event at Pico Union Project (2025)

•   Clifton Webb Scholarship -  UCLA Graduate studies, Theater 

•   Ruth Cohen Writing Award - USC Graduate studies - Professional Writing Program