Biography
EMMA JOHNSON is one of the few clarinettists to have established a busy international career as a soloist. Emma performs across Europe, the USA and the Far East, as well as in Africa and Australia. In Britain she has achieved great popularity, regularly playing to sold-out concert halls. Her recent disc 'Voyage' for Universal Classics & Jazz went straight to number three in the UK Classical Charts. Emma's latest disc, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth (2006), includes the Clarinet Concerto and the Quintet.
Emma began to study the clarinet at the age of nine. In 1984 she won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition televised throughout Europe and in 1991 was a winner of the Young Concert Artist Auditions in New York. She studied Music and English at Cambridge University and was recently the first woman to be awarded an honorary fellowship at Pembroke College. Emma has given masterclasses all over the world and was a visiting professor at the Royal College of Music. Emma was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 1996.
Emma Johnson has appeared with many leading orchestras including London Symphony, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, Hallé, Tokyo Philharmonic, Salzburg Camerata and Netherlands Philharmonic in repertoire which includes over forty different concertos.
A new development in Emma's career has seen her being invited not only to direct from the clarinet, but also to conduct orchestras; the most recent examples being a highly acclaimed concert tour with the London Mozart Players and her debut conducting the Royal Philharmonic. Emma is also in demand as a recitalist and chamber musician, collaborating with quartets such as the Takacs, Lindsay, Brodsky and Contempo. She is director of her own chamber ensemble, 'Emma Johnson and Friends', a versatile wind and string group.
Emma has sold well over a quarter of a million discs worldwide. Details of her recordings as well as her concert schedule are available on Emma's website www.emmajohnson.co.uk. Books of Emma's compositions and arrangements have been published by both Chester Music and Fabers.
A frequent broadcaster for the BBC and European Broadcasting Union on both radio and television, Emma's TV appearances have ranged from prime time chat shows to gala concerts with Cleo Laine and Yehudi Menuhin. Emma's radio appearances include 'Artist of the Week' on both BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM; she has also presented various feature programmes. The theme tune played by Emma for the Victorian Kitchen Garden series on BBC television became a popular hit in the UK.
As well as the traditional repertoire, Emma takes an interest in contemporary composers. Her recording of Michael Berkeley's challenging Clarinet Concerto received widespread critical acclaim. John Dankworth has written several jazz-inspired works for Emma including a clarinet concerto premiered at the Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She is currently collaborating on a new concerto with Will Todd.
Emma Johnson plays an instrument by the English clarinet maker Peter Eaton.
She lives in London with her double bass playing husband, Chris West, and their young daughter, Georgina.
'…[Emma Johnson] walks onto a concert platform and suddenly transforms herself into an expressive instrument of sublime beauty' - The Guardian
Emma began to study the clarinet at the age of nine. In 1984 she won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition televised throughout Europe and in 1991 was a winner of the Young Concert Artist Auditions in New York. She studied Music and English at Cambridge University and was recently the first woman to be awarded an honorary fellowship at Pembroke College. Emma has given masterclasses all over the world and was a visiting professor at the Royal College of Music. Emma was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 1996.
Emma Johnson has appeared with many leading orchestras including London Symphony, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, Hallé, Tokyo Philharmonic, Salzburg Camerata and Netherlands Philharmonic in repertoire which includes over forty different concertos.
A new development in Emma's career has seen her being invited not only to direct from the clarinet, but also to conduct orchestras; the most recent examples being a highly acclaimed concert tour with the London Mozart Players and her debut conducting the Royal Philharmonic. Emma is also in demand as a recitalist and chamber musician, collaborating with quartets such as the Takacs, Lindsay, Brodsky and Contempo. She is director of her own chamber ensemble, 'Emma Johnson and Friends', a versatile wind and string group.
Emma has sold well over a quarter of a million discs worldwide. Details of her recordings as well as her concert schedule are available on Emma's website www.emmajohnson.co.uk. Books of Emma's compositions and arrangements have been published by both Chester Music and Fabers.
A frequent broadcaster for the BBC and European Broadcasting Union on both radio and television, Emma's TV appearances have ranged from prime time chat shows to gala concerts with Cleo Laine and Yehudi Menuhin. Emma's radio appearances include 'Artist of the Week' on both BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM; she has also presented various feature programmes. The theme tune played by Emma for the Victorian Kitchen Garden series on BBC television became a popular hit in the UK.
As well as the traditional repertoire, Emma takes an interest in contemporary composers. Her recording of Michael Berkeley's challenging Clarinet Concerto received widespread critical acclaim. John Dankworth has written several jazz-inspired works for Emma including a clarinet concerto premiered at the Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She is currently collaborating on a new concerto with Will Todd.
Emma Johnson plays an instrument by the English clarinet maker Peter Eaton.
She lives in London with her double bass playing husband, Chris West, and their young daughter, Georgina.
'…[Emma Johnson] walks onto a concert platform and suddenly transforms herself into an expressive instrument of sublime beauty' - The Guardian
Photo: Mark Cavill (MAC Photography)