Jeanne Johnson
Baroque and modern violin

“Both technically and musically admirable violin-playing… brilliant…

a queen of coloratura!”

-- Mittelbayerische Zeitung

“Jeanne Johnson played with… great ornamental flourishes.”

-- Bernard Holland, New York Times

"stunningly effusive"
-- Bloomington Herald-Times

"stunning!"
"absolutely superb, the highlight of the program!"
"Ms. Johnson delivered her usual virtuoso performance."
"Ms. Johnson was just fantastic. She really got into the music with marvelous ornamentation and clearly communicated to the audience that this is fun music!"
-- Atlanta Early Music Alliance

"Long before classical music was stodgy, it was sometimes dangerous, unpredictable, and bizarre... [Johnson and Tanaka] conjured up a little of that old magic... delivered with gusto... [and] the fluency of true improvisers."
-- Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

“How like an intimate prayer Johnson let this bewitching work die away…”

-- Online Musik Magazin

Biography

Jeanne Johnson - Violinist Jeanne Johnson’s performances on series, tours, festivals and recordings in the United States and abroad have been hailed as “stunningly effusive” and “delivered with gusto,” resulting in National Public Radio, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and local broadcasts. A winner of an Early Music Professional Development Award in 2002, Jeanne has been featured on several “Harmonia” and “Performance Today” broadcasts, and gave a recital on the Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments series in 2005. Her early music group Music of the Sphere has been featured at The Frick Collection, the 2006 Tage Alter Musik festival in Regensburg, Germany, the 2002 Berkeley and Bloomington Early Music Festivals, and the San Francisco Early Music Society series. Jeanne has toured with Vince Gill and Amy Grant, and performed with many groups including Chatham Baroque, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik, Musica nel Chiostro in Tuscany, Portland Baroque, Bloomington Baroque, Brandywine Baroque, the Magnolia Baroque Festival, the Carmel Bach Festival, the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, and the Atlanta Symphony. She has also served on the faculty of Clayton State University.

After starting violin at age 5, Jeanne made her solo debut with orchestra at 11 and won first place in the Milwaukee Symphony Youth Soloist Competition at 16. In 1987, she received her bachelor's degree in performance with honors from Indiana University, where she studied with James Buswell and Stanley Ritchie and participated in the Early Music Institute. In 1989, she received her master's degree with distinction in performance and academics from New England Conservatory, where she was James Buswell's graduate assistant. She pursued further studies in summer programs at Interlochen, the Sarasota Music Festival, the Bach Aria Festival and the Banff Centre.

Jeanne disagrees with the perception of classical music as academic, aloof or intimidating. She believes its true function is to spark intensely personal emotions, memories and images, and she desires to reach a wider audience through performances focusing on these aspects. Her passions include the arts, philosophy, history, psychology and spirituality, with a special interest in human perception and the creative process. In addition to playing violin, Jeanne is also writes and paints and has worked as a classical radio announcer.

She is available for concerts, recitals, concerto solos, series, festivals, tours, advanced master classes, and recordings on both modern and Baroque violin. Jeanne’s CD’s are available below, or through www.magnatune.com, where you can listen online.

Review

RECENT & UPCOMING PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS

February 4, 2007 Music of the Spheres, The Frick Collection, New York

*** HEAR A RADIO BROADCAST OF THE CONCERT AND INTERVIEW

ON THE WNYC WEB SITE

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/frick/episodes/2007/05/05

June 2, 2006 Music of the Spheres, Tage Alter Musik Festival, Regensburg, Germany

May 27 & 28, 2006 Chatham Baroque, Piccolo Spoleto, Charleston

April 2005 Recital, Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments

February 2005 Music of the Spheres, San Fransico Early Music Society Series

December 2003 & 2004 Tours with Amy Grant and Vince Gill

MUSIC OF THE SPHERES™ CD!

Jeanne Johnson, Baroque violin
Joanna Blendulf, Baroque cello
Yuko Tanaka, harpsichord

featuring
Schmelzer’s Sonatas Terza and Quarta from Sonatae Unarum Fidium
Biber’s Passacaglia and Sonata I in A Major
Matteis’ Ground after the Scotch Humour
Corelli’s La Folia
Bach’s Toccata in D Minor for harpsichord

ALSO AVAILABLE!!

The Fantastics

Wild, improvisatory early Baroque works from the mid-1600’s!!

featuring

Violin Sonatas of Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi

Harpsichord Works by Frescobaldi and Michelangelo Rossi

CD’s sold for $15.00US plus shipping. Please E-mail your shipping address to Music of the Spheres™.

MUSIC OF THE SPHERES™

Music of the Spheres™, formed in 2000, is an early music group based in San Francisco and Atlanta, consisting of Baroque violinist Jeanne Johnson, Baroque cellist Joanna Blendulf, and harpsichordist Yuko Tanaka. Music of the Spheres has performed at the 2006 Tage Alter Musik Festival in Regensburg, Germany, on the San Francisco Early Music Society series, as a main event for the 2002 Bloomington and Berkeley Early Music Festivals, and on several broadcasts of "Harmonia" and “Performance Today.” Highlights of 2007 include a performance on the Frick Collection series in New York.

We give lively, fun and informative performances, often interacting informally with our audiences and speaking about composers, history and our instruments. Our programs focus primarily on music of the 17th and 18th centuries, and in addition to performing major works by well-known composers, we also introduce little-known composers and works which are new to our audiences. We are available for concerts, series, festivals, recordings and advanced master classes. Our CD’s are available at www.magnatune.com.

Joanna Blendulf, Baroque cello, has performed as soloist and continuo player in leading period-instrument ensembles throughout the United States. Joanna holds performance degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Indiana University, where she studied with Stanley Ritchie, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and Alan Harris. In 1998, she was awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate for her accomplishments on Baroque cello from Indiana University. Joanna was a principal cellist of The New World Symphony under Michael Tilson-Thomas and has also performed with the Atlanta Symphony. She is currently a principal cellist of the Portland and Indianapolis Baroque Orchestras and American Bach Soloists, and has also performed with Apollo’s Fire and the New York Collegium. Joanna is an active chamber musician, touring with American Baroque, Ensemble Mirable, Reconstruction, the Streicher Trio and Wildcat Viols. She was named runner-up in the 2000 Early Music America/Dorian Competition for her recording of the complete cello sonatas of Jean Zewalt Triemer. Joanna’s summer engagements have included performances at the Bloomington, Boston, Berkeley Early Music Festivals, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Carmel Bach Festival.

Yuko Tanaka, harpsichordist, is active as a soloist, ensemble player and educator. She is a soloist with the Carmel Bach Festival, and has performed at the Berkeley Festival and Exhibition, Bloomington Early Music Festival, and in broadcast events for National Public Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. She performs with numerous ensembles including Musica Pacifica, El Mundo, Ensemble 6-4-2, American Bach Soloists, Musica Angelica, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, and The Women’s Philharmonic. Yuko received a doctorate in early music from Stanford University and has studied with Margaret Fabrizio at Stanford, Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam, and Ketil Haugsand in Oslo, Norway. She has recorded for Koch International and Delos International, and appeared at the Istanbul International Music Festival in June 2005.

"exquisitely rendered solo keyboard works"

-- Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

"splendid keyboardist"
"Ms. Tanaka's projection of line and rhythmical vigor gave real weight to her interpretation."
-- L.A. Times

"Yuko Tanaka played the harpsichord accompaniment expertly, sounding unobtrusive and graceful."
-- The Orange County Register

Send E-mail to: Jeanne Johnson