Bio
Jana Skarecky is a Canadian contemporary classical composer of vocal and instrumental music, who has written music for solo voice, choir, solo instruments, chamber groups, and orchestra. She was born in Prague, in the Czech Republic, on November 11, 1957, and came to Canada in 1968. She studied composition with Barrie Cabena in Canada (B.Mus. Honours Composition, Wilfrid Laurier University) and Peter Sculthorpe in Australia (M.Mus, Composition, Sydney University).
Ms. Skarecky’s compositions have been performed in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Her one-woman opera Emily, the Way You Are has been enthusiastically received by audiences each time it has been performed. Her orchestral work Streams opened Hammerson Hall of the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. She loves writing for the voice, both solo and choral works, and setting poetry to music — for example, Green and Gold for soprano and piano (poetry by P.K. Page), O Earth and Deep Peace (texts by John Gracen Brown, published by Alliance Publications, USA), and Back to Babylon (text by Viggo Mortensen, premiered in New Zealand in 2012).
Jana Skarecky is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre. She has been Chair of the Association of Canadian Women Composers as well as a member of the National Council of the Canadian League of Composers. In addition to her work as a composer, she is a visual artist, painting with acrylics. She often composes and paints in parallel, finding that the two media interact and lead in new directions. She is the translator of The Foundations of Modern Harmony by Karel Janeček from Czech into English. She lives near Binbrook, Ontario, and teaches piano and theory in Mississauga and at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
For a French bio please visit the Canadian Music Centre
List of Works
Compositions by Jana Skarecky are available from The Canadian Music Centre.
10 representative works
O Earth and Deep Peace (2013 and 2012) — choir a cappella, text by John Gracen Brown, published by Alliance Publications Inc., USA
Birds in the Hickory Tree and Water Colours (2012, 2011) —11 pieces and 17 pieces for solo piano.
What Draws Us Together (2010) — bass clarinet & cello.
Premiered by Jeff Reilly, bass clarinet & Ben Bolt-Martin, cello (Waterloo, Ontario, 2011)
Emily, the Way You Are (2008)— one-woman opera
chamber ensemble premiere: Ramona Carmelly, mezzo-soprano; Joseph Ferretti, piano; Talisker Chamber Players; Gary Kulesha, conductor) Kleinburg, Ontario, 2008; & performances in Waterloo, Toronto, & Brandon, MB
Back to Babylon (2006) — SATB choir a cappella, text by Viggo Mortensen.
Premiered by the Cantores Choir, Greg Peyroux, conductor, in Dunedin, New Zealand, 2012
Ave Maris Stella (2005) — SATB choir a cappella.
Commissioned & premiered by the Gallery Choir of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Toronto
Planet Earth (2002) — soprano & piano, with text by P.K. Page
Premiered at the conference “Extraordinary Presence: the Worlds of P.K. Page”, Peterborough, Ontario
Streams (1997) — orchestra.
Premiered at the opening of Hammerson Hall, The Living Arts Centre, Mississauga, Ontario
Flame of Roses (1989) — flute, cello, piano.
Recorded on Spinners of Starlight CD by the Ardeleana Trio (1993)
The Sign of the Four (1986) — tenor recorder.
Performed by Ian Shanahan in Sydney, Australia (1986) and Sendai, Japan (1989)