Lura Johnson
Keyboard studies
Hailed as "brilliant" by The Washington Post, Lura Johnson enjoys a varied career as chamber musician, solo artist, and teacher which has taken her across the U.S., England, France, and the Netherlands. She has been presented as a solo artist at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall and Washington D.C.'s Phillips Collection and in various collaborations at the Kennedy Center, the Corcoran Gallery, the National Gallery, and Strathmore Music Center and Mansion. Johnson was recently handpicked by legendary pianist Leon Fleisher to appear in recital at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Johnson plays regularly in the Baltimore Symphony and is the recital partner of choice for many of its members, including concertmaster Jonathan Carney, with whom she presented the complete Brahms violin sonatas last season.
In 2009 she and Peter Minkler, BSO violist, release their first collaborative recording on the Centaur Label which will include viola sonatas by George Rochberg and Dmitry Shostakovich and works by Benjamin Britten and Arvo Pärt. She has collaborated with members of the Peabody Trio, members of the Corigliano, Brentano, Borromeo, Muir, and Fry Street String Quartets, and as a guest artist with the Garth Newel and Marian Anderson Quartets. As an orchestral musician she has worked with conductors Jahja Ling, Michael Stern, Christoph von Dohnanyi, and Marin Alsop. In 2002 Johnson and award winning flutist Christina Jennings founded the Jennings-Johnson Duo, whose magnetic performances challenge the traditional hierarchy of soloist and accompanist. The duo tours regularly throughout the U.S. and released its first recording in January 2006 to critical acclaim. Ms. Johnson holds degrees from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, and went on to study with luminaries Leon Fleisher and Robert McDonald at the Peabody Institute. A native of Oberlin, Ohio and daughter of musical parents, she has served on the faculty of the Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop and currently teaches keyboard skills and piano minors at the Peabody Institute.
