COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (Jan. 29, 2004) — Tennessee Tech University will host a concert by guest clarinetist Emma Johnson at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 4, in the Wattenbarger Auditorium of the Bryan Fine Arts Building.

A review in the British newspaper The Guardian says, “She walks onto a concert platform and suddenly transforms herself into an expressive instrument of sublime beauty.”

A native of London, Johnson began studying the clarinet when she was nine and majored in music and English at Pembroke College, Cambridge University, where she was also the first woman to be awarded an honorary fellowship.

An award-winning woodwind player, she has recently been appointed professor of clarinet at London’s Royal College of Music.

In addition to the traditional repertoire, she is also interested in contemporary composers. Her recording of Michael Berkeley’s challenging “Clarinet Concerto,” for example, received widespread critical acclaim.

John Dankworth has also written several jazz-inspired works for her, including one that was premiered at the Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

A Center Stage event, Johnson’s performance at TTU is free and open to the public.

--Tracey LeFevre
This information posted 2 February 2004