Janelle Finton

About Janelle

Fascinated by many modes of creativity, Janelle Finton is a trumpeter, vocalist, composer, and poet who approaches music making and storytelling with wonder. She has played with groups such as the Maria Schneider Orchestra as a featured vocalist at Ravinia and the Elmhurst Jazz Festival, the Grace Fox Big Band at Birdland, and Dizzy’s Club, the John Daversa Big Band at the Baked Potato in Los Angeles, the Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra, and NYOJazz at Carnegie Hall, where she toured Europe and Asia with Sean Jones, Dianne Reeves, and Kurt Elling. As a composer, Finton has a big band chart published through Brava Jazz, has been a NextNotes winner through the American Composer’s Forum, and is a recipient of a Downbeat student music award for best jazz arrangement. Finton holds a B.M. from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in jazz trumpet performance where she studied with the amazing Brian Lynch, as well as Etienne Charles (trumpet), Dafnis Prieto (improvisation), and Dr. Kate Reid (voice). 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. Currently, Finton performs and teaches in Chicago, and is continuously grateful for all the opportunities she has to share joy with people through her music.

As a life long learner, I invite my students into the practice of music, creativity, and joy through curiosity, inspiration, and wonder.