James Johnson
has earned a distinguished international reputation through his
recordings and performances with the Royal Philharmonic in London,
the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Prague Chamber Soloists,
the Slovenian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony,
and the Boston Pops. Compared in the European press to such legendary
giants as Horowitz, Gilels, Kempf, and Arrau, James Johnson is
a pianist of spellbinding technique, whose playing reveals "enthralling
dynamic and agogic work, enormous richness of tone," (Saarbrücker
Zeitung) and "a difficult-to-explain mystical quality."
(Die Rheinpfalz) His performances of works of Chaminade
and Dohnanyi appeared on Clavier magazine's list of "Best
Recent Recordings," and his recordings of Mendelssohn and
Beethoven concerti were featured as Records-of-the-Month by Musical
Heritage Society. His Centaur CD, featuring works of Kabalevsky
and Muczynski, was included on Bound for Sound's list of "Best
Recordings." Also active as a chamber musician, he has performed
with such ensembles as the Cambridge String Quartet, the Alaska
Chamber Ensemble, and the North Star Consort, praised by the New
York Times for its premiers of new music. A native of South Carolina,
James Johnson earned his BM, MM and DMA degrees at the University
of Arizona. His primary musical influences include the late pianists
Ozan Marsh and Louis Kentner, both linked to the Romantic virtuoso
tradition by their connections with Emil von Sauer, one of the
last living pupils of Liszt. Through these two mentors, his musical
ancestry extends back to Beethoven through Rachmaninoff and Liszt.
He is Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska at Omaha
where he teaches Piano, Piano Literature, Piano Pedagogy, and
Accompanying. Prior to his tenure at UNO, he was Professor of
Music and Chairman of the Music Department at the University of
Alaska Fairbanks. Also an organist and conductor, he earned a
post-doctoral MM at Westminster Choir College, as a pupil of Joan
Lippincott. He currently serves as organist-choirmaster at historic
St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Council Bluffs, IA. Johnson has
been honored with numerous teaching awards, including the University-wide
Excellence in Teaching Award at the University of Nebraska at
Omaha in 2001. In 2004, Johnson was selected as Teacher of the
Year by the Nebraska Music Teachers Association. That year also,
his biography was selected for inclusion in Living Legends,
a publication of the International Biographical Center, Cambridge,
U.K. In 2005, he was recognized at the MTNA National Conference
as a National Foundation Fellow. His biography appears in Who's
Who in America, Who's Who in the Midwest, and Who's
Who in the World. James Johnson is a Steinway artist. |
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