Graham Johnson

Long before Graham Johnson was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1994, he had already became a living institution as vocal accompanist. At the age of seventeen he arrived in London to receive training from his legendary predecessors Gerald Moore and Geoffrey Parsons. At the age of 22, he accompanied a masterclass imparted by tenor Peter Pears, which brought him into contact with Benjamin Britten on the same occasion – an encounter that had a formative impact on his artistic career. Soon he was collaborating onstage with illustrious vocal artists such as Peter Pears, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Brigitte Fassbaender, and Peter Schreier. In 1976, in collaboration with several outstanding vocalists, he formed The Songmakers' Almanac, the goal of which is to explore neglected areas of piano-accompanied vocal music. Over the next decades, Johnson thus learned and performed more than 250 different artsong programmes. Graham Johnson is Senior Professor of Accompaniment at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and gives a great number of masterclasses worldwide. In 2014 he received the Hugo Wolf Medal, not only in honor of his achievements as vocal accompanist, but also to salute his unflagging commitment as music researcher. The Ruhr Piano Festival had already awarded him its Annual Prize in 2001 for his life work. In 2018, Graham Johnson gave his 50th recital at the Festival!