Jean Johnson (Clarinet) & Steven Osborne (Piano)

Programme

Brahms f minor Sonata Op 120

Schumann Romances

Vaughan Williams     6 Studies in English Folksong

Macmillian   From Galloway

Béla Kovacs. After You, Mr Gershwin

Jean Johnson - Clarinet

British-American Clarinettist Jean Johnson is an international collaborator in chamber music programs and as such has played in some of world’s finest venues notably the Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Palais des Beaux-Arts. As part of her varied music life, Ms. Johnson is a member of the critically acclaimed trio ensemble,”Metamorphoses”and forms a duo with pianist Steven Osborne.

Notable chamber music festivals include Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center NYC, International Chamber Music Series Southbank Centre London, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Spannungen in Heimbach, Lammermuir Festival, Festival Peregrinos Musicales in Santiago de Compostela, Bath Music Festival, Hindsgavl Festival Denmark, Schwetzingen, Prussia Cove in Cornwall, St. Magnus Festival in Orkney, and many others.  She has collaborated with chamber music groups around the world and has been a concerto soloist with leading orchestras. Forthcoming collaborations include recitals with pianist Danny Driver, concerts with Metamorphoses, and performances throughout the UK, Spain, Netherlands, America, and further afield.

Jean Johnson was a student of Michael Sussman at the University of Massachusetts. She attended Indiana University as an Associate Instructor in Clarinet, studying with Eli Eban and Alfred Prinz. As a Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival she studied with Theodore Oien. Ms. Johnson began her career with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in the posts of Associate and Acting Principal Clarinet. She has been invited as a Guest Principal with leading orchestras such the Bergen Philharmonic, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and Royal Scottish National Orchestra among many others.  Jean has recorded both Brahms and Rozsa Sonatas on the Avie label with Steven Osborne.  According to the New York Times, “a fine recording by the poised clarinetist Jean Johnson. Beautiful renditions of Brahms’s Clarinet Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 round out this lovely album.“ Her most recent debut recording with Metamorphoses has earned the trio unanimous rave reviews from major publications around the world.

Steven Osborne - Piano

Winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist of the Year in 2013, pianist Steven Osborne is one of Britain’s most treasured musicians. Celebrated for his insightful interpretations, his musicality and technique, Osborne is much sought after as soloist, chamber musician and recitalist. His residencies at London’s Wigmore Hall, Antwerp’s deSingel, the Bath International Music Festival, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and, this season, at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra are a testament to the respect with which he is held.

Described by The Observer as “always a player in absolute service to the composer”, Steven Osborne recently released a much praised recording of Beethoven’s last three piano sonatas for Hyperion. During the Beethoven anniversary year, Osborne will present his illuminating take on these late works across the UK, the Far East, and North America as well as part of his RSNO residency for which he’ll also play Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27. Other orchestral highlights during the new season include more Beethoven and Mozart with the Finnish Radio Symphony and BBC National Orchestra of Wales, as well as Ravel with the BBC Philharmonic and Brahms with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra.

Steven Osborne has given recitals in all the UK’s most prestigious venues as well as internationally at the Musikverein and Wiener Konzerthaus, Royal Concertgebouw, Berlin Philharmonie, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and Carnegie Hall. His carefully devised programmes this season juxtapose Schubert and Rachmaninov for solo recitals across the UK including a performance at the Wigmore Hall; and Fauré, Poulenc, Debussy, Stravinsky and Ravel for joint recitals with Paul Lewis with whom he tours the UK – including a second appearance at the Wigmore Hall - Europe and North America. For his fourth International Piano Series concert at the Royal Festival Hall, Osborne plays Vingt regards sur l’enfant- Jésus by Messiaen, another composer who he been closely associated with since the release of his 2002 recording.

In 2020, Steven Osborne will release Prokofiev’s War Sonatas marking his 30th recording for Hyperion. A label artist since 1998, Osborne’s 29 recordings have accumulated numerous awards in the UK, France, Germany and the USA including two Gramophone Awards, three Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik Awards and a clutch of Recordings of the Year from The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Times and The Sunday Times.

Steven Osborne studied with Richard Beauchamp at St. Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh and Renna Kellaway at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He won first prize at the prestigious Clara Haskil International Piano Competition (1991) and the Naumburg International Competition (1997), and was one of the first BBC New Generation Artists. Steven Osborne is Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, Patron of the Lammermuir Festival and as of 2014, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

— The Daily Telegraph, 8 Feb 2016“Some pianists gild everything they touch with their own personality; some are like chameleons, finding a new colour for each composer. Last night the wonderful Scottish pianist Steven Osborne did both, which lent the whole evening a miraculous air…every note seemed to vibrate with intelligence”