Leslie Johnson to perform with Molly Knight at Lopez Center
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Submitted by The Lopez Center
Leslie Johnson returns to Lopez Center on Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.
Last November, Johnson played her amazing performance of the Complete Six Bach Suites for Solo Viola to a full house. Johnson is coming back to the stage with her friend Molly Knight on piano. Please join us for an evening of viola and piano masterworks.
Johnson and Knight will present the elegant Viola da Gamba Sonata no. 1 by Bach; the powerful, final work of Shostakovich, the op. 147 Viola Sonata; the ‘Rain’ Sonata, op. 78 (trans.) for Viola and solo Piano Intermezzi by Brahms; as well as Songs for Viola and Piano by Faure.
Johnson received much of her performance training at The Juilliard School, where she studied with William Lincer, completing both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees; her doctorate is from the University of Washington, where she studied with Steven Staryk and Eric Shumsky. Other teachers include Henryk Kowalski and Georg Janzer at Indiana University, Kim Kashkashian in New York City, Stephen Shingles in London, and Daniel Benjamini in master classes at the Aldeburgh Festival at the Britten-Pears School in England.
Johnson’s doctoral dissertation on the Shostakovich Viola Sonata includes an analysis of the first movement’s linear twelve-tone row using set theory. Published by Bärenreiter, her dissertation is often used in scholarly research.
Johnson performed for many years as Principal Violist/Solo Violist of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra in Seattle, and as a guest artist on many prominent Northwest chamber music series, including the Olympic Music Festival, Chamber Music San Juans and the Second City Chamber Music Series. She is also a champion of contemporary music and has premiered many new solo and chamber works. Johnson’s CD recording of the Six Bach Suites was released in 2013, and she continues to tour performing memorized programs of the consecutive six suites.
Knight is an acclaimed performer and recording artist whose attention to subtle nuance and color have ranked her among the finest musicians. She has performed as a solo pianist across the U.S. and in Europe and has broadcast live on Radio France, Antenne 2, National Public Radio and regularly on KING FM. Knight was the recipient of the Diplôme de Virtuosité at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, where she studied with the late Gaby Casadesus. She also holds performance degrees from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and the University of Washington. Her teachers include Bela Siki, Elizabeth Pridonoff and Frank Heneghan.
With her husband, she facilitates a global meditation school, regularly performing the music of Thomas de Hartmann and Gurdjieff. Her CDs “The Art of Dance” and “French” are available at Amazon.com, cdbaby and iTunes.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for youth. They are available at PSR, Lopez Bookshop and lopezcenter.org. Riser seating will be set up for the performance.
