Emma Johnson
Woodwind
Emma Johnson MBE grew up in London and her career was launched when, at the age of 17, she won 成人论坛 Young Musician of the Year followed by the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York. She studied Music and English at Cambridge University.
Tracks from her recent album, English Fantasy, have been streamed over 3 million times on Spotify. Johnson’s CD of Brahms Sonatas with John Lenehan was described as “definitive" in the Observer, whilst her recording of Stanford and Finzi was nominated for a Gramophone Award.
Emma is also a composer; Songs of Celebration, Johnson’s composition for clarinet and choir, has recently been performed in Dublin, London and Tokyo and her new clarinet concerto, Tree of Life, will be premiered in 2022.
In 2020 Emma was awarded the Cobbett medal for distinguished services to chamber music from the Musicians’ Company guild in the City of London. She also directs her own ensemble, and working with artists as diverse as Sir Yehudi Menuhin and Dame Cleo Laine, Emma is known for eclectic programming.
Her television appearances include a recital for Sky Arts, the 成人论坛 Proms and a Channel 4 documentary about Sir John Dankworth. She played the popular theme for The Victorian Kitchen Garden on the 成人论坛, winning an Ivor Novello Award. She has featured as Artist of the Week on 成人论坛 Radio 3 and Classic FM, broadcast documentaries on 成人论坛 Radio 4 and joined Woman's Hour and World at One.
Emma was a professor at the Royal College of Music, London. She also devised a project with composer Jonathan Dove involving UK school children recreating the story of the Pied Piper. And she has appeared as soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras.
Emma was the first woman to be made an Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge and in 2017 the college commissioned a portrait of her. She enjoys running and has completed two half marathons to raise funds for Unicef. She is a patron of ClicSargent and of Ronald Mcdonald House Charities and she was honoured by the Queen with an M.B.E. in 1996. Emma plays an instrument made by the English clarinet maker, Peter Eaton.
