Praised as “technically and interpretively impeccable and passionately communicative” (The Boston Musical Intelligencer), Graeme Steele Johnson is an artist of uncommon imagination and versatility.

 

The clarinetist, curator and “musical detective” (New York Classical Review) recently garnered international attention for his rediscovery, reconstruction and recording of a 125-year-old Octet by Charles Martin Loeffler, profiled in a full-page spread by The Washington Post and named one of The New York Times’ Best Classical Music Albums of 2024. As artistic director of the Loeffler Octet touring ensemble, Johnson led the first present-day performances of the work at the Library of Congress, Morgan Library, Harvard Musical Association, Phoenix Chamber Music Festival and The Stissing Center. Released on Johnson’s debut album Forgotten Sounds, the recording was also named BBC Music Magazine’s Chamber Choice, Critics’ Choice and Editor’s Choice by Gramophone, and one of the best classical albums of 2024 by The Times of London.

 

Other recent and upcoming appearances include Chamber Music Northwest, Ravinia, Emerald City Music and the Bridgehampton, Rockport, Moab, Orcas Island and Annapolis Chamber Music Festivals. Since 2022 he has served as the clarinetist of the award-winning quintet WindSync, one of only two American wind quintets with a full-time, international touring schedule. Also sought after as a chamber musician outside of that group, Johnson has collaborated with such distinguished artists as Jon Kimura Parker, David Shifrin, Ida and Ani Kavafian, Peter Wiley and Bridget Kibbey, as well as the Miró, Aeolus, Callisto and KASA Quartets, Imani Winds, New York New Music Ensemble, Copland House Ensemble, Twelfth Night Ensemble and NEXUS Chamber Music.

 

Admired for his creative curation and engaging communication, Johnson presented a TEDx talk comparing Mozart and Seinfeld, which used the sitcom to decode the language of expectation and irony in music without a plot. Driven by this interest in shedding fresh perspective on familiar music, he has also authored numerous chamber arrangements that have been heard around the world, as well as widely-published essays and program notes.

 

Under the tutelage of Charles Neidich and Kofi Agawu, Johnson earned a doctoral degree from the CUNY Graduate Center, where his research won the Elebash Dissertation Award. Previously, he earned two master’s degrees from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with David Shifrin and Ricardo Morales, and completed undergraduate study at The University of Texas at Austin with Nathan Williams.