Tim Janis life and biography

With over one million albums sold, five National Public TV Specials, and 10 Billboard Charting CDs, composer Tim Janis (born 1968) has worked with some of the top artists in the music and entertainment business -- from Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, and Ray Charles, to George Clooney and James Earl Jones.

Tim Janis creates what many in the media have called Music With a Mission, music projects which aim to advance important causes through music. It started in 1999, when Janis teamed up with the People's Princess Foundation to create a children's charity fundraising album to accompany the internationally touring exhibit of Princess Diana's Dresses. Then Janis teamed up with McCartney and Joel to create Music of Hope, a fundraising CD for the American Cancer Society.

Soon he took his mission overseas, recording the first CD with Sinikithemba, the all-female, all-HIV+ choir from South Africa, who went on to tour the US four times to spread an uplifting message of unity in the Africa AIDS crisis. The US State Department got involved and began inviting Janis to lead music fundraising concerts in Eastern Europe as an example of the American culture of goodwill and philanthropy. Then Janis teamed up with George Clooney to create the Beautiful America Public Television fundraising special, which rose over $2,000,000 in donations during its broadcasts.

In 2005, Janis embarked on one of his most ambitious Music With a Mission projects yet -- with the blessing of the Chinese government, Janis performed a series of concerts in mainland China, including a Chinese televised stadium performance, to promote the beauty of America -- concerts that featured his uplifting instrumental compositions combined with images of America's natural monuments and parks projected on giant screens. In doing so, Janis hoped to expose the Chinese people to a beautiful side of America they might never have seen before, and potentially pave the way for further cooperation between the two countries. This project followed a trip to Kenya, where Janis recorded over 500 students as part of a fundraising project for African public education.

Later that same year Tim Janis teamed up with international humanitarian aid non-profit Church World Service to support a new education project in Kenya, entitled the School Safe Zones project, which aims is to build up primary school education in Africa.

A key aspect of the School Safe Zones project that inspired Janis was the program's specific and yet ambitious goals. While in its initial stages, all efforts are focused on ten model schools in and around Nairobi, Kenya, with each school determining its greatest basic needs. These needs range to a water system, school supplies and also teacher training. Combined with fundraising from within Kenya and the United States, the ultimate target is to prove that bettering primary school education in Africa is entirely possible and is a necessary step in producing a more promising future.

Janis built his music career from the ground up, following an intense grass routes path. From over 500 performances at the beginning of his career, he grew a fan mailing list of more than 70,000 people. His listeners sent him literally thousands of letters and emails describing how uplifting his instrumental music has helped them cope with difficult circumstances. It was this moving response from his audience and the inspiring stories of his listeners that in turn inspired Janis to devote his career to directly helping people through music.

He has received tremendous support from the retail community in spreading his benefit albums. From Barnes & Noble and Borders to Wal-Mart and QVC, Janis's Music with a Mission projects have reached a wide audience -- for example, the American Cancer Society Music of Hope album reached #1 on the Billboard Classical Chart in 2001.

With millions of dollars raised and many lives changed, Janis truly believes that music can help heal some of the challenges of the world.

Here's a list of a selected discography from Tim Janis:

-Ghost Town (1992)
-Along the Shore of Acadia (1996)
-Etain (1996)
-Christmas (1999)
-December Morning (1999)
-Flowers in October (1999)
-Water's Edge (2000)
-American Composer in Concert (2001)
-Thousand Summers (2002)
-Flowers in October [bonus DVD] (2003)
-Across Two Oceans (2003)
-Beautiful America (2003)
-American Horizons (2005)
-Christmas Piano Collection (2005)
-Simple Gift of Christmas (2003)
-Coming Home (2005)
-Promise (2005)
-Winter's Eve (2005)
-Coastal America (2006)
-Quiet Shore (2006)
-Wondrous Christmas (2006)
-The American Christmas Carol (2006)
-Gifts of the Heart (2007)
-An Enchanted Evening (2008)
-Celebrate America (2009)

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