Organist Christopher Johnson to Perform at The University of Scranton

Mar 16, 2015
Organist Christopher Johnson will perform Sunday, March 22, in the Houlihan-McLean Center. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.
Organist Christopher Johnson will perform Sunday, March 22, in the Houlihan-McLean Center. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.

Performance Music at The University of Scranton will present organist Christopher Johnson “In Recital” at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 22, in the Houlihan-McLean Center on campus. Admission is free and the concert is open to the public.

A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Johnson holds a Master of Music degree in Organ Performance from The Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University, and completed his undergraduate studies at The Cleveland Institute of Music and The Manhattan School of Music. He serves as director of music and organist at The Riverside Church, artist-in-residence at Union Theological Seminary and as director of music at The Interchurch Center, all on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He previously held appointments as director of music and organist for the Woodstock/St. Paul community at Columbia University, assistant organist and associate director of music at The Riverside Church, and also served as assistant organist at Christ Church United Methodist in Manhattan.

Johnson’s teachers have included Thomas Murray, Todd Wilson and Adeline Huss for organ studies and Joshua Smith, John Mack and Robert Vernon, principals of The Cleveland Orchestra, for orchestral studies. As an orchestral musician, Johnson held a tenured position as violist with the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra, and has performed as violist, flutist and bassoonist with the Tulsa Philharmonic and a number of other professional orchestras throughout the Midwest.

A prizewinner at the 2001 San Marino Organ Competition and the 2003 National Association of Negro Musicians’ Organ Competition, Johnson maintains an active concert schedule, presenting recitals throughout the United States and Europe. During the summer, he also presents concerts with Ensemble Eccolo, a chamber ensemble based in Altenburg, Germany, performing throughout Europe and the Middle East.

An enthusiastic and avid flyer of airplanes, Johnson is also a commercial pilot and flight instructor at Century Air in Fairfield, New Jersey.

For additional information regarding this event, contact Performance Music at The University of Scranton at (570) 941-7624, or at www.scranton.edu/music

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