Dr. Janis received her Doctorate in voice performance and Master's in vocal pedagogy from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. While completing her graduate degrees, Dr. Janis sang professionally with Columbus Light Opera, Opera/Columbus, and the Cantari Singers. She also performed with the OSU Opera Theater in such roles as Adele in Die Fledermaus, Giannetta in L'Elisir d'Amore, and Margo in The Desert Song.

In 1990, Dr. Janis was awarded a scholarship to attend the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. A review of her performance in a Schumann Liederabend called her singing "sensitive and warmly conveyed." At the Spoleto USA Festival in 1985, she sang in the American premier of Handel's opera, Ariodante, which was nationally broadcast on NPR. As an undergraduate at Westminster College, Dr. Janis was a member of the Westminster Choir and had the privilege to sing under Kurt Mazur, James Levine, Leonard Bernstein, Robert Shaw, and Riccardo Muti, with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.

Dr. Janis studied conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt, Frauke Haaseman, Allen Crowell, and Maurice Casey; and has served as church choir director for both adult and children's choirs in churches in New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Washington.

Since coming to the Walla Walla Valley in August of 1994, Dr. Janis has been active as a solo performer. She has been heard in recitals and as a soloist with the Whitman Chorale, the Walla Walla Mastersingers, and the Mid-Columbia Symphony. Dr. Janis is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda and Phi Kappa Phi, and is a past president of the Inland Empire Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. From 1994 to 1999, Dr. Janis taught voice at Whitman College; and for 7 years, served as choir director at the First Presbyterian Church in Walla Walla. She currently maintains a private voice studio, and teaches voice at Walla Walla College. She is also choir director at St. Silouan Orthodox Church in Walla Walla. This is Dr. Janis' sixth season as Music Director/Conductor of the Walla Walla Choral Society.