He is countertenor and teacher, often confused with Jay DeWitt White who performed in Rick Nelson’s band, who started singing when he was just 18 months old and gained his degree in Early Music at Indiana University, later studying the University of Maryland, where he received his doctorate, and receiving training from a variety of well-established choral singers. He began to venture into his musical career around 1988 when he gave solo performances with various ensembles in Washington D.C.
He was a member of the male ensemble Chanticleer from 1994/5 into the 2000s and with them toured nationally and internationally on a regular basis, visiting 15 countries and in excess of 40 states in the US, as well as making many recordings and appearing in concerts and on radio and television broadcasts the world over with them.
As a soloist and ensemble member, recognised for his interpretations of baroque, medieval and renaissance music, he has performed in the company of the Armonia Nova, the Atlanta Symphony, Bach Sinfonia, the Folger Consort, the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the 17th Century, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the San Antonio Symphony, Santa Fe Pro Musica, the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Tafelmusik, Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Bach Concert, as well as at several American music festivals.
No stranger to the recording studio he has appeared on the Grammy Award winners Colors of Love and Tavener: Lamentations & Praises as well as Evening Prayer, Old New Borrowed Blues and Portrait with Chanticleer and Handel: Alexander’s Feast with the Bach Sinfonia, Beyond Plainsong with the ProArte Singers, In His Temple: Music of Edward Elgar with St. Paul’s Parish Choir, Missa L’homme arme: Sacred Music of Ludwig Senfl with the Suspicious Cheese Lords, Light’s Glittering Morn with the Washington National Cathedral Choir and Lux Aeterna with the Woodley Ensemble.
In the field of musical education he has been on the faculty of the University of Delaware, Columbia Union College, the University of Maryland and currently works at DePauw University, Indiana, as Assistant Professor of Voice as well as holding regular workshops and masterclasses.
Chanticleer recordings
Arirang (c15th Century Korean)
Teldec 16676 (CD: Wondrous Love: A World Folk Song Collection)
Arranger – Chen Yi
He performs here…
Sources:
- http://www.jgwhite.net/
- http://www.jgwhite.net/JWhiteVitae.pdf
- http://www.eskimo.com/~emrkp/jgwhitebio.html
- http://saintpaulsunday.publicradio.org/featured_artists/chanticleer.html
- http://www.indiana.edu/~iusnats/archive/07symposium/white.shtml
- http://www.depauw.edu/music/people/faculty/white.asp
- http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gzfpxqqjldhe~T2