User:Janet Lumb
Montréal 45° 30' 11.46" N, 73° 34' 11.30" W Festival Music Person Asian Origin Moderator
Born and raised into a musical family in Toronto, Ontario, Janet Lumb bought her first guitar at age 12 and soon after joined The Singing Knights of St. George the Martyr church, a youth group combo which played folk cover tunes.
By the time she reached age 22 and had moved to Vancouver, Janet was starting to develop a dedicated passion for music. She took part in formulating an all womens' folk group called Contagious in which she played acoustic guitar and also provided back-up vocals.
Although Janet knew she wasn't cut out to be a lead vocalist she still yearned to find her 'lead voice' and, at age 28, eventually found it in the saxophone. The sax became Janet's instrument of choice and she eventually moved on to play it in a band called Persisters and an all women punk band known as the Moral Lepers where she backed up for the likes of Dead Kennedys and D.O.A.
Janet was also busy developing skills in social services. She started as a street worker at a community center, then later served on staff at a women's shelter and then later still, as a child care worker helping juvenile delinquents.
In 1984, Janet relocated to Montreal and continued to lend her talent to numerous bands and musical personages. These included Culture Shock, Touché, Mai Jing, Kiss My Passion and Assar Santana whom with she toured nationally and internationally. She also continued to develop her child care worker skills taking on a position working with autistic children.
Janet first began composing music for films and videos in 1990 when theatre director, Carlos Alacchi, whom she had been working with, asked her to do the music score for his first film. Janet agreed and her career as a film music composer was launched. However it wasn't until 1995 when she literally fell into her full potential after taking a bad spill in a playground while babysitting for a friend. Having badly injured her knee, Janet was temporarily hobbled into a subdued lifestyle which could no longer include working with autistic children. At this point, however, film score contracts suddenly started beating a path to her door and Janet finally realized a life-long dream to live off her music.
Along about the same time, impressario Bernard Nguyen initiated the organization of a festival promoting multidisciplinary artists of Asian descent and approached Janet to help conceive the project. Undaunted by the leg-brace and cane which she was forced to use at the time, the ever-prolific Janet agreed and the Montreal Asian Heritage Festival was born. Bernard left soon after leaving the reins to Janet who indefatigably carried on running the entire festival out of her bedroom for the first seven years. Her efforts were not in vain. In 2002, for her contribution to the arts and dedication to the community through the festival, Janet was presented with the Queen's Golden Jubilee Award.
Today, Janet continues to support herself composing music for films and videos, is an advisory member of numerous Canadian arts committees and maintains her position as director of the Montreal Asian Heritage Festival under its new name, Accès Asie.