Adam Johnson is a British classical pianist, composer and conductor. He is currently artistic director and principal conductor of the Northern Lights Symphony Orchestra, which is based at St Saviour's, Pimlico. [1]
Johnson first studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, under the tutorage of Martyn Brabbins, and George Hurst. [2] He also studied under Peter Feuchtwanger and later obtained a Master's under the direction of Sir Mark Elder. [2] He studied composition with Anthony Gilbert, Elena Firsova and Simon Holt.
Johnson's concerto debut was playing the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 15 at the Pavlovsk Palace, Saint Petersburg, aged 15, [2] and he later went on to conduct with the Elemental Opera company [3] He has assisted Ari Benjamin Meyers [4] and guest conducted with the LSO. [5] In the UK he has performed with Jonathan Pryce at St Martin in the Fields; [6] and in Turkey, the United States, Spain, Norway, and Brazil. [4]
Johnson has composed mostly orchestral music (such as Aurora Borealis for large orchestra, 2009), and chamber music. There are four string quartets, including No. 2, Surrender Him the Apocolyptic Chrysalis, premiered at the Montepulciano Festival, Italy in 1999, and No. 4 (2012), in which each of the four movements are dedicated to four artists: Jackson Pollock, George Grosz, Dora Carrington and Tracey Emin. [7]
Johnson was elected a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians in 2011, and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Musicians. [2]
Albert Coates was an English conductor and composer. Born in Saint Petersburg, where his English father was a successful businessman, he studied in Russia, England and Germany, before beginning his career as a conductor in a series of German opera houses. He was a success in England conducting Wagner at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1914, and in 1919 was appointed chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.
The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Edmonton, Alberta. As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city it presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to country. Currently in its 70th season, the orchestra is composed of 56 core professional musicians who perform 42 weeks per season and who play an active role in the musical life of Edmonton and elsewhere as performers, teachers and recording artists. The ESO also performs as the orchestra for Edmonton Opera and Alberta Ballet productions, and its recordings are regularly heard across Canada on CBC Radio 2.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it began regular performances at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda.
David Geringas is a Lithuanian cellist and conductor who studied under Mstislav Rostropovich. In 1970 he won the gold medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition. He also plays the baryton, a rare instrument associated with music of Joseph Haydn.
David Eric Robertson is an American conductor. He was chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and was formerly music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2005 until 2018. He is Director of Orchestral Studies at Juilliard.
Pekka Kuusisto is a Finnish musician.
Jonathan Nott is an English conductor.
Denis Leonidovich Matsuev is a Russian classical pianist and occasional jazz performer.
Symphony Nova Scotia is a Canadian orchestra based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Its primary recital venue is at the Dalhousie Arts Centre's Rebecca Cohn Auditorium.
Kevin Matthew Puts is an American composer, best known for winning a Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for his first opera, Silent Night.
Jacques Singer was an American virtuoso violinist, symphony orchestra conductor, and music educator who flourished from about 1925 until a few months before his death in 1980.
Gavin Sutherland is a conductor, composer/arranger, pianist and musicologist. He is currently Music Director for English National Ballet.
Kenneth Montgomery OBE was a British conductor active in the concert hall and opera house. He held music director positions in the UK, the Netherlands and the US.
Alexander Prior is a British composer and conductor who studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He was Chief Conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra from 2017 to 2022.
Manny Laureano is an American trumpet player and conductor.
Martin Fröst is a Swedish clarinetist and conductor. As a clarinetist he performs internationally and is considered one of the most renowned instrumental soloists ever.
David Porcelijn is a Dutch composer and conductor.
Emil Simon was a Romanian conductor and composer.
Joseph Swensen is a conductor, violinist, and composer. He is winner of awards, including the Leventritt Foundation Sponsorship Award and the Avery Fisher Career Award. In 2000, Swensen was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of St Andrews, Scotland. In 2014, he gave a TedX talk with the title “Habitats for Music and the Sound of Math” about music education and the developing brain, at the New York Institute of Technology.
Adam Gatehouse is an English conductor, radio producer and editor, and classical music administrator. He was the main conductor of the Ballet Rambert and the Dutch National Ballet before working for BBC Radio 3 (1991–2013), where he became editor of live music, and founded the New Generation Artists scheme and the Wigmore Hall lunchtime concert series. He has been artistic director of the Leeds International Piano Competition since 2015.