Janèt Whitaker Sullivan

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Janèt Sullivan Whitaker is a singer, composer, recording artist, and veteran pastoral musician, having served in parishes of the Oakland Diocese for 40 years before her semi-retirement in 2020. Janèt’s music for the church is published by Oregon Catholic Press in Portland, OR and GIA/WLP Publications in Chicago, IL. Her compositions, widely-known and sung throughout the word, include such beloved favorites as Here at This Table, In Every Age, The Least of These, Day of Peace, and As Christ Is For Us. At the 2008 dedication of the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, CA, Janèt’s music was prominently featured. During her time as a catechist for youth music ministers for the One Bread, One Cup Conferences at the esteemed St. Meinrad Benedictine Archabbey in Southern Indiana, she composed music that continues to be an integral part of that community’s annual ministry to teens and college students. Janèt has contributed articles to several publications, such as NPM’s The Liturgical Singer and Modern Liturgy. In 2022 she served on the faculty of the Liturgical Music Institute at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, NY. Though no longer active in full-time parish ministry, she is now devoted to traveling the country to assist in the ongoing formation of pastoral musicians.
Janèt holds a BA in Music (1999) from California State University at Hayward, CA, and an MTS in Liturgical Theology (2008) from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. She is a member of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM), and of NATS, and ACDA.