Janet Griffith (1952-2001)	November 25, 2001

Janet Griffith Dr. Janet Entwisle Griffith passed away in her home in Laramie, Wyoming on October 6, following a three-year battle with cancer. She was 49. She was born in Lake Forest, Illinois, and graduated from Lake Forest High School in 1970. An excellent musician even when young, she was a member of the Lake Forest Symphony while in high school. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from Michigan State University in 1974, and followed that with a Master's degree from Cleveland State and a Doctorate from the University of Cincinnati. She married Michael Griffith at MSU in 1973. During the 1970's and early 80's she worked as a trumpeter in the Cleveland, Ohio area. She was Assistant Principal trumpet of the Canton (Ohio) Symphony and a member of the Erie (Pennsylvania) Symphony and the Opus One Chamber Orchestra of Cleveland during that time. She also taught music in the Cleveland Public Schools before starting the elementary instrumental music program at The Hawken School. A musical highlight during that time was her performance as the trumpet soloist with bass-baritone Thomas Paul in Handel's Messiah in Canton. During much of the 1980's she lived in Houghten, Michigan. During that time she was a member of the music faculty at Michigan Tech University and choir director at Portage Lake United Church. She was a member of the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra there, and returned to Upper Michigan as a soloist with the KSO twice during the past few years. In 1989 she moved with her family to Laramie, Wyoming. Jan taught trumpet at the University of Wyoming and conducted their University Singers, and worked as a free-lance trumpeter throughout the Front Range of Colorado and Wyoming. She played frequently with Denver's Colorado Symphony Orchestra, including performances of Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony under Sergiu Comissiona and the Corigliano's Symphony No. 1 under Marin Alsop. She was in the pit for the first performances at Denver's then-new Buell Theatre (for Opera Colorado's Otello) and played many Nutcracker performances for the Colorado Ballet. Other Denver ensembles in which she performed included the Denver Brass (she is on their Classical Elegance for Brass CD), the Tint Tots orchestra, and many brass ensembles at St. John's Cathedral. Ms. Griffith was chosen to appear as a concerto soloist at with the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestral Musicians near Bar Harbor, Maine. She was a finalist in an International Women's Brass Conference competition, and a recipient of a Wyoming Arts Council performing artist grant. She is remembered as a devoted teacher who was loved and respected by her many students, as a loving mother and wife, and a friend to many. Her spirit, humor, and determination were as memorable to her students as her musical talents. She is survived by her husband Michael and two children, Peter and Robert, all of Laramie; by four brothers and sisters: her twin June Miller of Lake Bluff, IL, Barbara Janski of Buffalo, MN, Bruce Entwisle of Brunswisk, ME, and Tim Entwisle of Sarasota, FL; a step-mother, Anne Entwisle of Sarasota, and eight nieces and nephews. A memorial service was held at the Fine Arts Concert Hall on the campus of the University of Wyoming. Gifts to set up a Janet Griffith Memorial Trumpet Scholarship should be sent to the Music Department, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071. Source: Michael Griffith

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