Janet Ritz
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Janet Ritz, an award winning U.S. author, musician and environmental activist, is the youngest daughter of pioneering Associated Press reporter, Rosalie Ritz, and the recipient of Yamaha's 2004 International Music Production Prize (first place).
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[edit] Career
Born in Washington, D.C., Ritz moved with her family to the San Francisco Bay Area, quickly coming to the attention of the local artistic community which introduced her to both the professional recording studio and creative writing environment.
While attending Berkeley High School, Ritz became acquainted with rock music promoter Bill Graham, whom had been utilizing the school as a venue for concerts, studied music theory and orchestration with a protégé of French composer, Darius Milhaud and composition with the brother of writer Anais Nin, UC Berkeley professor (emeritus), Joaquin Nin-Culmell.
After her schooling, Ritz was hired by Graham's management division where she worked on albums by Carlos Santana. Ritz went on to work in a production capacity at CBS Records, as well as at other well-known entertainment corporations, but soon expressed disillusionment with the business side of the entertainment business and sought out her mentor, Joaquin Nin-Culmell, who encouraged her to explore writing as a profession.
In June of 1991, Graham made the same recommendation. Following Graham's untimely death (due to a helicopter crash) on October 25, 1991, Ritz moved to Los Angeles, California, where she honed her craft as a writer while working as a recording studio musician/producer and performing as a vocalist with various artists, including actor Jeff Goldblum's band and saxophonist Tom Scott.
In 2004, Ritz co-wrote and recorded, with Los Angeles composer, Jonathan Hayes, four of the eleven songs for her 2005 CD release. It was out of this effort that she received the Yamaha International Music Production Award.
[edit] Activism
A committed environmentalist, several of Ritz's compositions have been used as theme songs for charitable causes, including actor Dennis Weaver's environmental events known as the "International Hydrogen Drives," where celebrities form caravans of alternatively fueled vehicles and drive them through the United States, Canada and Mexico in an effort to raise public awareness of fossil fuel damage to the environment.
Ritz also participated in the U.S. presidential election, 2004, crafting messages for voters and by originating an Internet based grassroots community active in all fifty U.S. states. Following the presidential race, Ritz directed her "grassrooters" to transfer their efforts to the League of Conservation Voters and returned to her creative pursuits.
[edit] Creative Focus
Ritz divides her time between music and writing. Her first novel is a geo-political-environmental cautionary tale. Her second, an historical novel with parallels to current geopolitical events, is slated for completion in late 2006.
