Jan was born in Birmingham, England. At the age of seven she moved with her family to Colwyn Bay in North Wales. At this time she started to take piano lessons with her neighbor, Margaret Owen. Jan soon became passionate about music and often went back for many lessons in one day. She soon began to compose her own songs and tunes for the piano.
Music and particularly the piano featured large in Jan's subsequent schooling in Wales and also Sydney, Australia where her family lived for a few years.
At age 18 Jan enrolled at the City of Leeds College of Music in the north of England. There she studied jazz and light music in addition to her classical music studies. She became a Graduate of the City of Leeds College of Music (GCLCM) and a Licenciate of the London Guildhall School of Music (LGSM). She also won the Rose Bowl prize awarded to the top graduating student at the music college.
Through the following summer, while waiting to commence studies at a Reading teacher training college, Jan worked as a volunteer music therapist at a hospital for the mentally handicapped in Leeds. Her work produced spectacular results and a post was created for her there. She stayed on and worked at the hospital as a music therapist for a number of years.
During this time Jan also moved into the world of professional music which took her into many different situations including playing solo piano, singing, bandwork, teaching, theater, accompaniment, church music and music copying. She continued to work for many years as a professional musician, often playing abroad and on cruise ships. Composing was always a feature in her varied musical activities.
In 1996 Jan moved to the United States with her family, having always had an affinity with the country, its citizens and way of life. She settled in Florida. Her professional musical activities continued.
In 2002 Jan returned to the United Kingdom and attended the University of Wales, earning her teaching certificate. She returned to Florida in 2003 and stepped into her current teaching position at Pine Crest School in Ft. Lauderdale. She continues to happily work there, teaching general music to Pre-K through 1st Grade and is thrilled to be so well supported at the school in her creative endeavours.
Jan is music director at Community Church, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea where she also finds tremendous support for her creativity.
On January 11th 2008 it was announced by Senator Tony Hill at the FMEA convention in Tampa, that Jan's song, "Florida, Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky" was the winner of the 'Just Sing Florida' competition, looking for a new Florida state song. On May 1st 2008 Jan's song was accepted by the Florida Legislature as the new official Florida State Anthem. It officially became the State Anthem on July 31st 2008. On August 12th 2008, Jan went to Tallahassee to meet with Governor Crist for a bill-signing ceremony.
All songs featured on this website are copyrighted (C) by Jan Hinton - All Rights Reserved
