Janice Garnett Augustus (b. 1945) is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. Her mother began teaching her piano at the age of four. At age five she began her studies at the Phillis Wheatley School of Music. From the age of seven, she studied piano extensively for seven years under the tutelage of Rose P. Widder (protégé of Leopold Godowsky, Russian pianist and composer).

She began violin at the age of ten and soon studied with Gino Antal (of The Cleveland Orchestra) and Helmut Braunlich (at Catholic University of America, Wash., D.C.). She played violin in numerous orchestras, including first chair in the following: the Cleveland All City Orchestra, the Mount Pleasant Symphony, and the All City Orchestra in Washington, D.C. Janice studied flute under James Turner and played flute and piccolo in several concert and marching bands. For many years Janice studied dance with Gail Crawford Gibson and drama with Ann Flagg at the Karamu Theater in Cleveland and participated in both children’s and adult plays.

Janice received a scholarship to Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she majored in violin under the direction of Louia Von Jones and Bernard Mason. She was concertmistress in the Howard University Orchestra. She minored in piano and studied many other instruments at length. After moving to Southern California in 1969, Janice played violin with the Beverly Hills Symphony for a short while under the direction of Varujian Kojian. Janice gave private lessons in violin and piano throughout her teaching career.

As a teacher for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for twenty years, Janice taught academic subjects at Guardian Angel Catholic School, in Pacoima, to Grades Six and Eight and music to Kindergarten through Grade Eight as well as teaching piano classes, directing the award-winning Guardian Angel Glee Club, and putting on recitals and plays. For twenty-six years she also served as sole organist and director of two choirs for English and Bilingual Masses. For many of these activities she used original music.

Janice currently resides in Southern California with her husband, Michael. She has five children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Since retiring in 1996, she is able to devote much time to composing and has completed several compositions, mostly for violin and piano. Janice dedicates her music foremost to God, and then to her late mother, Willistine Lavora Garnett.

Janice is a member of the Center for the Promotion of Contemporary Composers, the American Composers Forum, the Society of Composers, Incorporated, the International Alliance for Women in Music, the National Association of Composers, USA, and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).