OVERMILLER ELLIOTT, Janice

Janice Overmiller Elliott was an American composer, and music educator.
She earned a Bachelor of Music Degree at Southwestern College, Winfield, Kansas and a Masters degree at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY. There she was the first woman to study music composition with the internationally known composer, Howard Hanson. Later she studied violin with Harold Berkley in New York City, and viola with George Fourel at Boston University.
Her compositions have been performed by members of the Denver Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City, the Colorado Sprigs Symphony, and others. She taught Music Theory, Composition, Violin, and Piano at St. Mary College in Leavenworth Kansas for 28 years, and previously at Washburn University for seven years, as well as many private students. She is credited as a major influence in many student's lives. Janice continued her lifelong ambition of playing violin and participated with the Atchison-Benedictine College Orchestra in a concert last November at age 91. She served as assistant concertmaster for many years, and previously played violin or viola in the Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City, the Topeka Symphony Orchestra, the Colorado Springs Symphony, and others.