Janice Kapp Perry

American songwriter

Janice Kapp Perry (born October 1, 1938) is an American composer, songwriter, and author. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints (LDS Church), she has written over 3,000 songs, some of which appeared in the church's official hymnal, and in the Children's Songbook. Some of her most well known songs include "I Love to See the Temple" and "A Child's Prayer." Perry has also composed albums in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

Perry was born on October 1, 1938, in Ogden, Utah but spent her childhood on a farm in Vale, Oregon. She grew up in a very musical family. Her mother, Ruth, played the piano and wrote musicals for the children to perform in the community. Her father, Jacob, learned to play the drums to accompany his wife in a family band. After her father died, Perry played the drums in his place. The children in the family also performed in a quartet. In high school, she was in the band, playing snare drum and tympani. She also wrote her very first song, entitled "I Walked in God's Garden."

At the age of thirty eight, Perry broke one of her ankles during one of her basketball games. Her television broke at the same time. With the extra time the incidents afforded her, she was assigned by her ward to compose music for their ward road show. Perry experimented with many styles at the beginning of her career, writing pop music that she sent on demo tapes to Nashville and Los Angeles. Not finding success with pop music, she began writing more contemporary gospel music. In 2001, their song "Heal our Land" was performed at the National Prayer Breakfast and again in 2005 for the presidential inauguration of George W. Bush. Perry is a prolific composer. She has written nearly 3,000 songs, which she compiled into more than 108 albums. She has also written eight cantatas, two of which have been performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, She is a member of the Utah Composers Guild, and has traveled all over the world to perform her work, including to Japan and Taiwan.

During Perry's career, a mysterious pain left one of her hands paralyzed. As doctors were not able to find a solution, it became especially difficult to play the piano and compose music. Despite this, she continued to write songs, learning to compose them in her head instead. In a moment of particular despair over her hand, Perry wrote a song entitled "Lord Are You There?" which she later reworked and simplified to become her beloved "A Child's Prayer." There was some controversy with the song, as the church's correlation committee believed the lyrics should include formal prayer language, such as "thee" and "thou," but Perry argued that a child would not use those words when praying. The song ultimately remained the same.

Her work has been performed by many people and in many places. This includes Brooks & Dunn, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and Gladys Knight. Her music has also appeared on television programs like Robert Schuller's program Hour of Power and The Oprah Winfrey Show on their episode following the attacks on 9/11.

Perry met her husband, Doug, in a music class they both attended at BYU. On September 26, 1958, just before she turned twenty, they were married in the Logan Utah Temple. They had five children together

While raising her family, Perry joined and created community softball leagues, leading them to win many tournaments. She also enjoyed volleyball, racquetball and basketball. She sang in church and local community choirs, and was selected to sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. She sang first alto as a member of the choir from 1993 to 1999. In 1998, she was awarded the National George Washington Medal of Honor from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge for the album she wrote with Orrin Hatch. In 1999, Perry won two awards: the Exceptional Merit Award from the LDS Booksellers Association, and the Heritage Award from the Utah/California Women. In 2001, the Faith Centered Music Association honored Perry with their Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2000, Perry wrote a book about the stories behind her songs entitled Songs From My Heart. There was also a documentary made about her entitled Janice Kapp Perry: A Life of Service and Song, which premiered in 2009. In April 2020, BYU awarded her an honorary degree, a doctor of Christian service in music.