Janet Ruth Wisner Burton Top Professional Content
Title: Music Educator
Location: Gibsonton, Florida, United States
Janet Ruth Wisner Burton, music educator, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for dedication, achievements, and leadership in music instruction and performance.
She married O. E. Buddy Burton in 1991 and immediately moved to NC where Buddy Managed & Sang with a Top Professional Gospel Group. They have lived in 5 states & when she did not get a teaching position right away, she worked toward a master’s in education. Her parents are Robert and Mary Wisner. Janet has one daughter, Mara Ruth Malone, who helped with illustrations for the Children’s Books and is a Cosmetologist in Rainsville, Alabama.
Ms. Burton is a musician, educator, and performer with a strong family musical tradition and decades of experience sharing music with her students. She grew up attending annual Singing Schools in the summer where she learned to sing, play piano, and sight-read music, and by her teenage years, Ms. Burton was traveling throughout the South performing Gospel Music with her parents and three siblings as the Robert Wisner Family, her dad was a Band Director. Ms. Burton began her teaching career at the age of 18, Instructing Singing Schools at local churches in Alabama & then at some of the Major Schools in America; Gospel Singers of America in Pass Christian, MS, Camp Copass in Denton TX, the Cumberland Valley School in Knoxville, TN, and the word got out that she would travel & taught hundreds of Singing Schools in 25 States. In 1979, she completed an Associate of Arts in music at the National School of Music in Roanoke, AL, and pursued teacher licensure in Florida and Alabama shortly after. Throughout her long career, Ms. Burton has continued to further her education, earning a second Associate’s degree at Northeast State Community College in Rainsville, AL. in 1990, a Bachelor of Science in Education from Athens State University in 1992, and a Master of Music from Jacksonville State University in 2004. She has also completed additional music studies at Palm Beach Junior College and Florida Atlantic University. She also has a Master of Arts in Language Arts from JSU in Alabama.
Since 2016, Ms. Burton has been a Professor of Music at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, FL, building on many years of teaching and educational administration for schools at the K-12 level. Prior to accepting her current position, she had taught K-6 music at Huntland High School in TN, McFadden Magnet Middle Band in Murfreesboro, TN. Lincolnton HS in Lincolnton, NC, Lake Travis HS in Austin, TX, Hilltop Christian Academy in Cedar Park, TX, Snead State Community College in Boaz, AL, and at 4 Dekalb County School in Rainsville, Alabama. She served as the HS Band Director, taught French, K-6 Music, HS Honors English, HS Speech, Creative Writing, American Lit., after working as a substitute teacher. In addition to her work in public schools, Ms. Burton also served as the Program Director for Hilltop Baptist Church in Cedar Park, TX, and Music Director for Gault Avenue Baptist Church in Ft. Payne, AL, and Cornerstone Church in Maiden, NC. and leading music programs at a number of churches. In Ft. Lauderdale, FL, she taught the Yahama Music Course for Children ages 4-6.
Ms. Burton has taught music performance for voice, piano, organ, clarinet, and bass guitar, among others, and continues to teach. She wrote music for the Stamps-Baxter Music Company & the Jeffress Book from Arkansas. She Produced/Hosted a local Cable TV showcase for four years “Gospel Music Time with Buddy & Janet Burton. She is the Author/Illustrator of a series of Children’s books PeeWee & Me, and the Producer/ Instructor of a 2-hour Singing School on DVD with a Rudiment Book The Do, Re, Mi’s of Music. Janet has performed on the Don Frost Gospel Music Showcase with Buddy & Bill Shaw, and Buddy & Roy McNeal. Her 1st Quartet was the Diplomats of Rainsville, then the Golden Harvest, Crimson Qt., the Original Marlon Pendergrass & the Premiers, and now with Buddy Burton Trio or Group. In recognition of her significant contributions to modern gospel music and to her accomplishments and a teacher and performer, Ms. Burton was Inducted into the Tri-State Music Hall of Fame 2017 in Chattanooga, TN. She is a grantee of the Alabama Arts Council, and has been presented with an Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. She is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa National Honor Society, in college, she received Awards in Speech & Journalism, she is a member of the National Beta Club, HS Drum Major, HS All-Co. Band Awards 7-12, Sr. Most Dependable, Dekalb Co. Miss Congeniality, while in Ft. Lauderdale she won National Dance Awards with Fred Astaire Studio, and is President of the Northeast American Arts Council with the hope of transferring it to the Tampa, Florida area.
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