Jane Hartman - Piano/Vocals

is a pianist, composer, and vocalist with the Jane Hartman Trio and the Riverboat 5+1 Dixieland band. She is multiple winner of the Illinois Times "Best Musician" award and Ms. Hartman also owns the Springfield Mayor's Award, Individual Artist category, in 1998. She has performed with and/or for numerous celebrities, including Dizzy Gillespie, Mel Torme, Juliet Prowse, John Pizzarelli, Bill Moore, Jeremy Davenport, The Chi-Lites, The Coasters, The Platters, the Springfield All-Star Big Band, and Tennessee Ernie Ford. The Jane Hartman Trio has performed on 2 tours in Japan as ambassadors for Springfield, IL’s sister city in Ashikaga City, Japan. The JHT performs 150 - 200 events per year and was featured in a WSEC video "North of New Orleans" that was played locally after Ken Burn’s "History of Jazz." Jane also hosted "Jazzfield,"a public television show which featured local jazz artists during the 1980’s.  Ms. Hartman is also affiliated with The Fleming Academy of Springfield, IL. She has toured as a guest soloist and an accompanist with this Suzuki violin academy in England, performing for USA’s Armed Forces in 2002 and in Venice, Florence and Rome, Italy, culminating in a performance at Vatican City in April 2005.  Jane performed a private performance with The Symphony Orchestra of Malta in Aix-en-Provence, France in August, 2005.   Ms. Hartman was guest soloist with the Illinois Symphony in February, 2001, performing George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." Her orchestral composition "Twinkle", was debuted by the Illinois Symphony in December 2000. She composed Lincoln Land Community College's Alma Mater "Lincoln Land" in April 2002. She most recently composed a "Pledge Week Theme" for WUIS, Springfield’s local National Public Radio station.  Ms. Hartman is the wife of Senior Pastor, Richard Kent Irwin at First Christian Church in Springfield, IL, where she directs "The Grateful Bread Band," a jazz praise band. She is the oldest of nine children and has 3 stepchildren.  A sought after teacher, Ms. Hartman is Associate Professor of Music at Lincoln Land Community College, where she has taught since 1984. She teaches Music Theory classes and directs the "Lincoln Land Community College Jazz Band," as well as "The Stolen Moments Band," a beginning jazz improvisational class. Ms. Hartman was named "LLCC Faculty Woman of the Year" for 2005 and has twice been nominated for "The Pearson Master Teacher Award." She holds a Masters Degree in Classical Piano Performance from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois, Springfield. Her 1995 self-produced CD, entitled "Jane Hartman", became the best selling Jazz album for Webster groves Records in St. Louis, MO. Since then Jane has produced and released 3 more CD's: "Just You Imagine" -1999, "Rediscovered Treasures" -2000, "Tidings of Comfort and Joy -2004..  She is specifically known for her tasteful and inventive weaving of Classical piano compositional elements with standard jazz repertoire. Janehartman88@aol.com

The Jane Hartman Trio is a multiple winner of  the Illinois Time's "Best Jazz Combo" category, and has represented the city of Springfield, Illinois on tours of Japan in 1995 and 1997.  The Trio toured England in September 2002 with the Fleming Academy.  The Trio appeared at MacMurray College in October 2000, in a lecture recital with Harvard University Jazz Historian and Clarinetist Frank Tirro, and again with Sarah and Rachel Caswell in April 2002.  The Trio most recently fronted for John Pizzarelli in July 2004 at the"Summer Fun & All That Jazz" festival held at Lincoln Land Community College. The Trio regularly performs at Springfield's Lime Street Cafe.