Emma Johnson (clarinet) & John Lenehan (piano)
Friday 14 February 2025 at 7.30pm
Finzi: Bagatelles
Brahms: Sonata Op.120 No.1
Lutosławski: Dance Preludes
Schumann: Fantasiestucke Op.73
Mozart: Larghetto K581a
Poulenc: Sonata
Brahms: Sonata Op.120 No.1
Lutosławski: Dance Preludes
Schumann: Fantasiestucke Op.73
Mozart: Larghetto K581a
Poulenc: Sonata
Photo: Frances Marshall
Emma Johnson is one of the few clarinettists to have established a career as a solo performer which has taken her to venues all over the world. Emma grew up in London and her career was launched when at the age of 17 she won BBC Young Musician in front of a TV audience of 12 million, followed by the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York.
Emma has made 30 recordings to date; her album English Fantasy has been streamed 5 million times on Spotify whilst Voyage and The Mozart Album both reached the top of the classical charts. She recently released a recording with Gloucester Cathedral choir of her own composition Songs of Celebration.
A passionate advocate of the clarinet as a solo instrument, Emma has commissioned new works from composers such as Sir John Dankworth, Sir Michael Berkeley and Jonathan Dove. She also enjoys giving concerts with her own group, Emma Johnson and Friends and is known for her eclectic programming which has ranged from Mozart with Sir Yehudi Menuhin to Klezmer at the Jazz Café and Jazz with Dame Cleo Laine. Emma’s compositions and arrangements have been published by Chesters and Faber Music. Her composition for clarinet and choir Songs of Celebration was recently performed in Dublin, London and Tokyo and her clarinet concerto Tree of Life a response to the climate emergency, is touring in 2024.
In 2020 she received the Cobbett Medal from the Musicians’ Company Guild in the City of London for distinguished services to chamber music. She was honoured by the Queen with an M.B.E. in 1996. Emma plays a clarinet made by the English instrument maker, Peter Eaton. In her spare time, Emma likes running and birdwatching – but not necessarily at the same time!
https://www.emmajohnson.co.uk/
Emma has made 30 recordings to date; her album English Fantasy has been streamed 5 million times on Spotify whilst Voyage and The Mozart Album both reached the top of the classical charts. She recently released a recording with Gloucester Cathedral choir of her own composition Songs of Celebration.
A passionate advocate of the clarinet as a solo instrument, Emma has commissioned new works from composers such as Sir John Dankworth, Sir Michael Berkeley and Jonathan Dove. She also enjoys giving concerts with her own group, Emma Johnson and Friends and is known for her eclectic programming which has ranged from Mozart with Sir Yehudi Menuhin to Klezmer at the Jazz Café and Jazz with Dame Cleo Laine. Emma’s compositions and arrangements have been published by Chesters and Faber Music. Her composition for clarinet and choir Songs of Celebration was recently performed in Dublin, London and Tokyo and her clarinet concerto Tree of Life a response to the climate emergency, is touring in 2024.
In 2020 she received the Cobbett Medal from the Musicians’ Company Guild in the City of London for distinguished services to chamber music. She was honoured by the Queen with an M.B.E. in 1996. Emma plays a clarinet made by the English instrument maker, Peter Eaton. In her spare time, Emma likes running and birdwatching – but not necessarily at the same time!
https://www.emmajohnson.co.uk/
Photo: Robert Piwko
With more than 80 albums to his credit, reflecting an enormous variety of genres and styles, John Lenehan ranks as one of the most versatile pianists on the classical scene today. His breadth of repertoire has led to his popularity on Spotify with over half a million monthly listeners worldwide. Praised by the New York Times for his “great flair and virtuosity” and the (London) Times – “a masterly recital”, John Lenehan has also collaborated with some of the leading instrumentalists of our time.
As soloist he has appeared with LSO, RPO and LPO amongst many other orchestras and championed the works of John Ireland, recording the complete piano works for Naxos. His recording of the Ireland Concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and John Wilson won a Gramophone award and other recordings include concertos by Michael Nyman, Vaughan Williams and most recently, Mozart and Beethoven with the National Symphony Orchestra.
He is also known as a composer and orchestrator working with artists such as Tasmin Little, Leonidas Kavakos, Yuja Wang, Nigel Kennedy, Joseph Calleja and Nicola Benedetti on CD. Recent performances of his work have been heard at the Last Night of the Proms and in USA, Italy, France, China and Belgium. His piano concerto The Legend of Maritime Silk Road received its premiere in China in 2023.
http://www.johnlenehan.co.uk/
As soloist he has appeared with LSO, RPO and LPO amongst many other orchestras and championed the works of John Ireland, recording the complete piano works for Naxos. His recording of the Ireland Concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and John Wilson won a Gramophone award and other recordings include concertos by Michael Nyman, Vaughan Williams and most recently, Mozart and Beethoven with the National Symphony Orchestra.
He is also known as a composer and orchestrator working with artists such as Tasmin Little, Leonidas Kavakos, Yuja Wang, Nigel Kennedy, Joseph Calleja and Nicola Benedetti on CD. Recent performances of his work have been heard at the Last Night of the Proms and in USA, Italy, France, China and Belgium. His piano concerto The Legend of Maritime Silk Road received its premiere in China in 2023.
http://www.johnlenehan.co.uk/