Demonstrating Mastery of Craft:
One way to evaluate the degree to which a person has attained mastery of their craft is through feedback from independent third parties. I include here articles and quotes from various newspapers, magazines, and online sources. Additionally, I provide testimonials from performers, composers, and former teachers.
REVIEWS
“[Delaware Symphony Orchestra] principal pianist Lura Johnson rendered the first movement with an air of confidence and ease — her cadenza powerful yet insightful and moving… her virtuosity sizzles.” (Christine Facciolo, Delaware Arts Info)
“Johnson’s piano work was spot-on, with a lovely cadenza and flawless timing… a jaw-dropping flurry of flying fingers…” (Steve Siegel, The Morning Call)
“an unusally well-structured performance that goes beyond superficial tonal beauties to reveal the score’s constitutive elements… [George Rochberg’s] sonata’s slow movement plumbs great emotional depths that are uncompromisingly conveyed by both musicians. Shostakovich’s Sonata… receives a restrained performance that lets the music speak its nihilistic message without rubbing it in with superimposed emotional antics. Minkler and pianist Lura Johnson make a marvellous team…” (Carlos Maria Solare, The Strad)
“Johnson’s riveting account of Prokofiev’s “Sonata No. 7, Op. 83,” though, really stole the show. It’s a complex, subversive work, written in 1942 after the arrest and subsequent death of a friend of the composer’s, and Johnson looked unflinchingly into its anguished depths… Johnson and Andrist gave it [Rite of Spring] a thundering performance, capturing the Rite’s jagged rhythms and driving, elemental power, and by the end you half expected the piano to be in pieces on the floor.” (Stephen Brookes, The Washington Post) (entire article here)
“Johnson flowed effortlessly and eloquently through Ives’s myriad unfolding moods and ideas with confidence and thoughtfulness, not losing their literary statement.” (The Washington Post)
“spirited … charming” (The New York Sun)
“Lura Johnson — the beautiful, model-thin guest pianist — played the Grieg Concerto in A minor, opus 16 with great flourish and technical prowess – hands flying in the air dramatically at the end of phrases and grabbing the piano with her left hand when she played with the right. The pyrotechnics, melodic control and technical prowess which won her the audition for the Delaware Symphony Orchestra were evident in her rendition of the cadenza in the first movement. In the second movement, she played softly and lyrically, trading off the melody with the oboe. The third movement was the most impressive in expression and melodic control. Her ability to bring out the melody over a soft slew of notes in the left hand in the third movement won me over.” (The Newark Post)
“…The duo’s dedication to this 1982 work [Rochberg, Between Two Worlds] proved true and palpable as they negotiated deftly through its atmospheric sonorities and thorny dissonances… ” “…It was Johnson’s dynamic and confident playing that drove this piece [Franck A Major Sonata]. The pianist’s expressive touch, evident all evening, swelled to an expansive high in the finale.” (The Birmingham News)
“a very lovely reading… Draiblate and Johnson give an engaging reading of Elgar’s “Salut d’amour”, where they seem to test the limits of rubato. They manage to ebb, flow, pull, and push to the furthest extreme without disturbing or distorting the line or exceeding the boundaries of good taste. They apply the same kind of freedom to the Grieg F Major Sonata, which makes it a very exciting and engaging reading… They have me eating out of their hands….” (Elaine Fine, American Record Guide April/May 2014)
“At the piano Lura Johnson wove a meditative veil with Pärt’s quotation of Bach’s Prelude in C Major (from Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier)” (Charles T. Downey, Washington Classical Review)
“…the exceptional pianist Lura Johnson…” (Jennifer Perry, Broadwayworld.com)
“… the orchestra soloists were top notch, particularly Lura Johnson’s piano solos on ‘The Entertainer’…” (Elliot Lanes, MD Theater Guide)
“…liquid, flowing keyboard work…” (Tom Purdom, Broad Street Review, Philadelphia)
Remarks from Tim Smith, writing for The Baltimore Sun and for his online arts blog, Artsmash:
“crystalline articulation in the Scherzo…. surging expressive force…” (entire review here)
“Johnson summoned impressive bravura as needed — Chausson demands a lot of it — and balanced that with considerable nuance."
“Several finely shaded efforts by soloists within the ensemble enhanced the performance, among them Jane Marvine (English horn), Steven Barta (clarinet), Rene Hernandez (trumpet) and Lura Johnson (piano).”
"The six musicians maintained tight rapport as they tapped into the Concert’s Brahmsian heat and French elegance. In the Grave movement, they also achieved a remarkable richness of expression that cast quite a spell….”
“Their passionate account of Brahms’ Piano Quintet featuring pianist Lura Johnson had an effective sweep, full of character and a rich, well-blended sound.”
“Wednesday’s strong mix of repertoire, selected by pianist Lura Johnson, balanced the quirky, often just plain astonishing Ives trio between great works by Beethoven and Dvorak… You just have to smile, and I did as Johnson, violinist Ken Goldstein and cellist Ilya Finkelshteyn dug spiritedly into the notes. The riveting finale, with its Brahmsian lyricism and haunting references to “Rock of Ages,” was played in particularly powerful fashion.”
“BSO violinist Greg Mulligan and pianist Lura Johnson delivered Grieg’s C minor Sonata in warm, poetic fashion.”
“The percussion section did shining work, as did Lura Johnson at the piano…”
“polished, dynamic…”
“first-rate…”
“impressive warmth and cohesiveness…”
“Johnson’s performance had exceptional vitality, color and impact.”
Remarks from The Washington Post:
“Pianist Lura Johnson skillfully and enthusiastically brought out its playful and extroverted character… poignant…”
“virtuosic… hugely entertaining…”
“Brilliant…”
“At every turn… super-polished, fluent…”
“rich, deep tone and impeccable technique… dazzling…” (Chaffee, American Record Guide January/February 2007)
“…particularly commanding and imaginative support from the piano…” (MusicWeb International)
“Jennings and Johnson are truly a “duo”, a shared partnership of equal voices that are matched in musical understanding and approach to interpretation. Even when the flute is more prominently featured in the melodic line, the sensitive underpinning and comment by the piano accompaniment is sure and supportive. The inherent challenge of ensuring the listener does not miss the color of the original orchestral accompaniment is well met by Johnson.” (The Flutist Quarterly, Spring 2007 issue)
TESTAMONIALS
“a wonderfully gifted young pianist, inquisitive, enterprising, responsive and aware….”
(Leon Fleisher, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Chair in Piano, Peabody Institute of Music)
“Her artistic capabilities are impressive and to splendid effect; furthermore she proves to be an excellent spokesperson who manages through her words to heighten the audience’s understanding of the works in a most effective way.” (Robert McDonald, The Juilliard School)
“Composers pray for players that are this imaginative and intelligent, this risk-taking and expressive. Christina [Jennings] and Lura not only bring already composed works of mine to renewed life, but actually feed my fancy new ideas and sounds. Add to this the duo’s power and virtuosity and you have every composer’s dream.” (Gabriela Lena Frank, composer)
"Lura Johnson is the ideal pianist for new music, with a wonderful technique and exceptional insight into the character of the new music she is performing. She instinctively performs it as the composer intended, so that I was more than satisfied – I was thrilled – by the way she performed some new songs of mine with soprano Kate Hearden. I look forward to working with Lura in the future”. (Lawrence Moss, composer and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
“The Jennings-Johnson Duo CD is a spectacular display of extraordinary musical poise and technical brilliance. The artistry of these two musicians is most compelling and gratifying in this beautifully programmed CD.” (Jeanne Baxtresser, Former Principal Flute, New York Philharmonic)
“The Jennings-Johnson Duo is a magical partnership. Christina’s wizardry as a colorist is matched by Lura’s sensitivity to nuance and phrasing. This is a powerful, enchanting CD.” (Leone Buyse, Professor of Flute, Rice University)
“There are many pianists who can play a lot of notes, but very few who can collaborate with others like Lura Johnson. She has a unique ability to inspire and inform those with whom she works, making the group stronger than its individual parts. Musically speaking, she can both support and take charge, as necessary.” (Greg Mulligan, violinist, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra)