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, arranger and “musical detective” (New York Classical Review) recently garnered widespread 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. Johnson released the world-premiere recording of the work on his album Forgotten Sounds in 2024, earning critical acclaim from The Times, BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone, The Strad, Musical America, Limelight and many others.
Johnson’s recent appearances include the Library of Congress, Chamber Music Northwest, Ravinia, Emerald City Music, Morgan Library, and the Bridgehampton, Rockport, Orcas Island and Phoenix Chamber Music Festivals, as well as solo recitals at The Kennedy Center and Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess series. He also appears annually as a core artist at the Annapolis Chamber Music Festival, Archipelago Collective Chamber Music Festival and Caroga Lake Music Festival. 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.
Driven by his interest in shedding fresh perspective on familiar music, Johnson gave a TEDx talk comparing Mozart and Seinfeld, and has authored numerous chamber arrangements that are regularly performed around the world. He is the winner of the Hellam Young Artists’ Competition and the Yamaha Young Performing Artists Competition, and holds an exclusive recording contract with Delos/Outhere Music.
Johnson studied with Nathan Williams at The University of Texas at Austin and earned graduate degrees from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with David Shifrin and Ricardo Morales and was twice awarded the school's Alumni Association Prize. He completed doctoral study with Charles Neidich and Kofi Agawu at the CUNY Graduate Center, where his research won the Elebash Dissertation Award.
