About Jane Christison, Accordionist
With her engaging smile and entertaining personality, no matter where in the world, or what the occasion, you’re sure to enjoy Jane Christison’s MUSIC WITH A SMILE® and JANIE NEXT DOOR® performances!
If you ever get to see a live performance by accordionist and singer Jane Christison, you’ll be dazzled by her big smile, personality and an enthusiasm for playing the accordion that shines through in every single note. And it seems quite fitting that she advertises as “Music With A Smile®!”
How it all started...
Jane grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. When she was nine years old, her Mom received a phone call asking, “Would you like to give your child a free musical test?" She said, “Sure, come on over.” Since Jane was the oldest kid in the family, she got to take the test. Jane says that she doesn’t remember much about it other than that the man told her parents that she got a good score. He had a package deal of six weeks of lessons and the rental of a 12-bass accordion.
She loved playing the accordion right from the very first lesson. After the six weeks of lessons were over, she was given another test. “Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Christison, your daughter is so talented!” Jane says, “I’m guessing that they told all the parents that, because that’s when they sold us an accordion, and I’ve been playing ever since.”
She moved to Kansas City to study accordion with Joan Cochran Sommers at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in Accordion Performance.
Touring around the world...
As a member of the UMKC Accordionaires, Jane traveled and performed with USO Shows. She sang and danced in addition to playing the accordion. The first tour took her to the Far East, playing at military bases in Korea, Japan, Okinawa, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Guam. A second USO tour took her to the Azores and Germany. She says “We didn’t get paid very much, but what a fantastic experience!”
As a member of the UMKC Accordion Orchestra, Jane has performed in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, England, Scotland, Sweden, Russia, Estonia, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Italy. She feels lucky to have traveled to so many different places because of the accordion.
Becoming a full-time, professional accordionist...
After graduation, Jane joined the Musicians’ Union and started playing professionally in the Kansas City area. She built up a repertoire of old standards, Broadway tunes, German music, Irish, Italian, French and Russian music, along with Christmas music and sing-along songs. She played for restaurants, country clubs, corporate events, cocktail parties, strolling work, Breakfast with Santa, parties at beautiful homes, bus tours of Kansas City’s Christmas lights and even an Irish wake. She was the first woman elected to the Kansas City Federation of Musicians’ Board of Directors.
Since November of 2000, Jane has played over 1,500 performances for retirement communities, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, seniors groups and memory care units. She comes up with programs that make the audience feel like they are actually part of the performance rather than just an audience member politely clapping at the end of a song.
During her programs, Jane reminisces about different things, depending on the time of year. She has been told that sometimes the residents will talk for days about things she mentioned during her performances. Her favorite compliment is when someone tells her they had fun with the music.
Introducing children to the accordion...
Somewhere along the line, while playing all these programs for senior audiences, she started waking up with tunes in her head.
Jane tells people, “I spent four years studying music at the UMKC Conservatory and never wrote a song. I spent years playing professionally and never wrote a song, I never even dreamed I could write a song. Yet, here I was waking up with tunes in my head, and I paid attention to them, working with the melodies and writing words to them. No one was more surprised than I was when they turned out to be children’s songs.”
In order to market her award-winning children’s CD, “Come Sing Along with Janie Next Door™,” she started playing for preschools, then libraries and festivals.
Jane recently finished the “Come Sing Along with Janie Next Door™ Learning Guide,” which she is working on marketing. Using classroom-tested techniques by music educator Debbie Gray, the book connects her children’s songs with reading fluency and comprehension, art, math, language arts, physical education and even a couple of science lessons. Feedback received from educators has told her that the Learning Guide is a great way to integrate music in the classroom, even if you’re not a musician.
Jane says, “As Janie Next Door®, I’m having so much fun introducing children to the accordion, and I’m looking forward to seeing where this newest chapter in my musical career will take me!” The CD and books are available in her online shop.
Jane has been featured as a guest artist and workshop presenter at:
- The National Accordion Association, Inc.
- The Accordionists and Teachers Guild, International (ATG)
- The American Accordionists’ Association
- The Las Vegas International Accordion Convention
- World Accordion Day Celebration, A World of Accordions Museum, Superior, Wisconsin
She is a member of:
- The American Federation of Musicians
- Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity
- ASCAP
- The Children’s Music Network
- Kansas City Young Audiences – Teaching Artist
Global Accordion Project Orchestra - Peace 2020
Jane joined accordionists from around the world to give this virtual, moving performance of 'Peace' by Ian Watson.
Learn more about the fun!
Accordionist and singer Jane Christison is known for her trademarked Music With A Smile® Her performances are filled with personality and an enthusiasm for playing the accordion that shines through.
Find out how to have her bring the music and fun to your event, party, facility, or organization.
Jane Christison, also known as children’s musician, Janie Next Door®, has developed a whole menu of live musical programs for kids, using an instrument they don’t get to see very often – an accordion.
Check out kid-approved fun, the repertoire of catchy tunes, booking info, and more details about Janie Next Door by clicking the button below.
Photo credit: Pam Elliott