SACKVILLE, NB — World-renowned pianist Graham Johnson will join the Mount Allison University community as the third annual Bragg Artist-in-Residence, March 8-11, 2022 on campus.

Johnson is recognized as one of the world’s leading collaborative pianists and most active recording artists. He has had a long and fruitful relation with Hyperion Records, for whom he has recorded a 37-disc collection of the complete Schubert Lieder (more than 600 songs!) and the complete art songs by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, and Gabriel Fauré. Currently the Senior Professor of Accompaniment at the London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Johnson is also a renowned scholar who has authored several publications including the three-volume Franz Schubert: the Complete Songs (Yale, 2014) and most recently Poulenc: The Life in the Songs, released in August 2020.   

“Graham Johnson is one of the most important pianists in the field of art song (music for voice and piano) and has released an incredible number of recordings with the world's very top singers, in addition to his extensive writings on music. We are delighted to have him come to Mount Allison,” says Dr. Stephen Runge, Mount Allison University Music Department Head and Professor. “The Bragg Artist-in-Residence program gives our students, as well as faculty and community members, important opportunities to learn from and collaborate with world-renowned musicians. On behalf of the entire Music Department I thank the Bragg family for their support in creating these kinds of experiences.”
 
Over his 30-year career, Johnson has been Song Advisor to the Wigmore Hall Song Competition since its inception and has received several awards and honours including: the Gramophone solo vocal award in 1989 (with Janet Baker); 1996 (Die schöne Müllerin with Ian Bostridge); 1997 (for the inauguration of the Schumann series with Christine Schäfer), and 2001 (with Magdalena Kozena). He was made an OBE in the 1994 Queen’s Birthday Honours list, the Royal Philharmonic Society made him Instrumentalist of the Year in 1998, and in 2000 he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

Bragg Artist-in-Residency public events with Graham Johnson  
See mta.ca/music for additional information. Proof of vaccination will be required for members of the public. All events will take place in the Marjorie Young Bell Music Conservatory.
 
Master Class: Voice and Piano Duos
Tuesday, March 8, 2022 4 – 6 p.m.  
Graham Johnson presents a master class for voice and piano duos from the Department of Music.

Colloquium: My Life in Music  
Wednesday, March 9, 2022 4 p.m.
Graham Johnson will discuss his long and varied career as collaborative pianist, recording artist, and scholar.    

Master Class: Schubert Lieder
Thursday, March 10, 2022 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. 
Graham Johnson presents a master class focusing on Schubert’s Lieder for voice and piano duos from the Department of Music.   

Public Talk: Schubert in Love, in Sickness and in Health
Thursday, March 10, 2022  7 p.m.
Graham Johnson shares his thoughts on various elusive aspects of the composer's private life that have been much-debated among scholars and music-lovers for many years, and never more so than in the last decades. Johnson will offer his interpretation of the available evidence and describe how Schubert's friendships impacted the composition of his songs.   

Public Talk: Collaboration at the Piano
Friday, March 11, 2022  1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
In this informal talk, Johnson will discuss the joys and challenges of collaborating at the piano, with a particular focus on the art song repertoire.   

Lecture-Recital: Franz Schubert – Night and Day
Friday, March 11, 2022 7:30 p.m.  
Graham Johnson presents a lecture-recital, contextualizing some of Schubert’s most beloved songs, joined by Dory Hayley (soprano) and Vicki St. Pierre (contralto).

The Bragg Artist-in-Residency is made possible with the Bragg Women in Music Opportunities Fund, established in 2017 by John Bragg, Mount Allison alumnus and past Chancellor, and his wife Judy, also a Mount Allison graduate. The fund honours five women in the Bragg family who made significant contributions to music education including: Zillah Bragg, Sylvia Bragg, Kathleen (Bragg) Sherman ('52), Carolyn (Bragg) Glennie ('58), and Lorraine (Bragg) Moore ('70). It helps support performance and experiential learning opportunities for Music students and brings artists of international calibre to campus through the Artist-in-Residence program.