Musical Conversation: A Journey of (Re)discovery with Graeme Steele Johnson
Tune in for a live, online conversation with the person who rediscovered, revised, and reconstructed Charles Martin Loeffler’s lost octet. While this Romantic masterpiece was written and premiered in 1897, it disappeared into the Library of Congress archives until 2020. 127 years since its creation, Graeme Steele Johnson has resuscitated the piece for its first performances in living memory. Hear Graeme speak about his journey bringing this forgotten work back to life, and stay for a Q&A at the end. In addition to being a curator and “musical detective” (New York Classical Review), Graeme is clarinetist of the award-winning wind quintet, WindSync, and a CMNW Protégé Project Alumnus.
“Johnson spent a year reconstructing the octet’s score from the 75-page manuscript, creating the first critical edition of the music. In 2022 he assembled an octet of musicians, including his former teacher, David Shifrin, and himself on clarinet, to read through the piece.”
— The Strad
HELPFUL HINT: If the video player is not below or you have playback problems, please refresh your screen.
Expand to full screen by clicking the “Expand” button on the bottom right corner.
Artists
-
Graeme Steele Johnson
Clarinet
-
Praised as “technically and interpretively impeccable and passionately communicative” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), Graeme Steele Johnson is an artist of uncommon imagination and versatility.
The clarinetist, curator and “musical detective” (New York Classical Review) garnered international attention for his rediscovery and reconstruction of a 125-year-old octet by Charles Martin Loeffler, profiled in a full-page spread by The Washington Post. Released on his debut album, Forgotten Sounds (Delos/Outhere Music), Johnson’s world-premiere recording of the work was named one of The New York Times’s Best Classical Music Albums of 2024, nominated for a Gramophone Classical Music Award, and critically acclaimed by BBC Music Magazine, The Times of London, and many others. Johnson led the octet’s first present-day performances at the Library of Congress, Morgan Library, Harvard Musical Association, Phoenix Chamber Music Festival, Emerald City Music, and other concert series around the country over three seasons of touring.
Since 2022, Johnson has served as the clarinetist of the award-winning quintet WindSync. Additional recent appearances include the Ravinia, Bridgehampton, Rockport, Moab, and Orcas Island Chamber Music Festivals and performances with the Miró, Balourdet, Aeolous, Callisto, and KASA Quartets, as well as the Twelfth Night, Copland House, and New York New Music Ensembles. Admired for his creative curation and engaging communication, he has presented a TEDx talk comparing Mozart and Seinfeld, authored chamber arrangements heard around the world, and in 2026 will assume the position of artistic director of the Onstage Offstage Chamber Music Festival in Houston.
Under the tutelage of Charles Neidich and Kofi Agawu, Johnson earned a doctoral degree from the CUNY Graduate Center, where his research won the Elebash Dissertation Award. Previously, he earned two master’s degrees from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with David Shifrin and Ricardo Morales, and completed undergraduate study at The University of Texas at Austin with Nathan Williams.