Mary Grace Johnson – GSFTA Alumni | Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts

My name is Mary Grace Johnson and I am a violinist and alumna of GSFTA.

Governor’s School was my very first summer music experience, and was transformative in my decision to pursue music professionally.

Since GSFTA, my career has taken me all over the world. A graduate of Vanderbilt and Julliard, I am currently completing my doctorate (ABD) at Rice University Shepherd School of Music with Paul Kantor and am on the faculty of the Paganini School of Music and Lone Star College-University Park in Houston, TX. In addition to teaching, I maintain an international performing career. Recent highlights include a performance for the Duke of Kent in Cornwall, UK, and at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms. As a founding member of the Aurelius and Unison String Quartets, I have performed throughout the US and received an honorary mention at the Bartok World String Quartet Competition in Budapest, Hungary. A strong advocate for new music, I have premiered works by over a dozen composers, including Anthony Brandt, Amy Nam, Nicky Sohn, William David Cooper and Jake Sandridge, and am a core member of new-music collective ensembles Loop38, Kinetic Ensemble and Musiqa. Past and upcoming projects include recording the works of Pierre Jalbert, Karim Al-Zand, Patrick Harlin, and Theo Chandler for commercial release, and the premiere of a violin concerto by Nicky Sohn that I commissioned with Kinetic Ensemble, on a program celebrating women composers. An avid orchestral musician, I served as concertmaster of the Rice, Juilliard and Vanderbilt orchestras and will appear as guest concertmaster with the El Paso Symphony this spring.

My doctoral research focuses on the music of Grażyna Bacewicz, a mid-20th century Polish violinist and composer, and one of the most prolific female composers of all-time. I have curated a recital program of solo and violin/piano works entirely by female composers that includes some of her violin works, pieces I have commissioned from Amy Nam and Nicky Sohn, and classic romantic works by Clara Schumann and Amy Beach.

If you would like more information, you can also visit my website, marygracejohnson.com. I remember when I was a student, trombonist Jeremy Wilson came to give a recital and talk at GSFTA and it was very impactful for me to see an alumnus go on to have a successful career in music.