Graeme Steele Johnson

Praised for his "elegant and rounded sound" (Albany Times Union) and "effortless...unmatched" technique (The Clarinet Online), Graeme Steele Johnson is an artist of uncommon imagination and versatility. His diverse artistic endeavors range from a TEDx talk comparing Mozart and Seinfeld, to his reconstruction of a forgotten 125-year-old work by Charles Martin Loeffler. Johnson’s recent appearances include the Library of Congress, Chamber Music Northwest, Ravinia, Emerald City Music, and the Bridgehampton, Rockport, Orcas Island and Phoenix Chamber Music Festivals. Since 2022 he has served as the clarinetist of the award-winning quintet WindSync, one of only two American wind quintets with a full-time, international touring schedule. In 2020, Johnson discovered the manuscript to a forgotten Octet by Charles Martin Loeffler left unpublished, unrecorded and unheard since 1897. His world-premiere recording of the work releases on his new album Forgotten Sounds (Delos Productions), coinciding with the first modern performances of the piece at the Library of Congress, Morgan Library, Harvard Musical Association, Phoenix Chamber Music Festival and The Stissing Center. Winner of the Hellam Young Artists’ Competition and the Yamaha Young Performing Artists Competition, Johnson holds an exclusive recording contract with Delos. He earned graduate degrees from the Yale School of Music, and his major teachers include David Shifrin, Charles Neidich, Nathan Williams and Ricardo Morales.