Bryan Johanson
Composer, Guitarist, Beekeeper
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About Bryan Johanson
Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Bryan Johanson is a classical guitarist and composer. He has won major awards from the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival and School, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, UCLA and The Esztergom International Guitar Festival.
Johanson studied composition with Charles Jones and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer William Bolcom. Johanson's compositions feature four symphonies, concertos for violin, cello and piano, numerous chamber works, song cycles and choral works, as well as compositions for solo instruments including the classical guitar.
Johanson studied guitar with Christopher Parkening, Alirio Diaz, and Michael Lorimer and has performed with orchestras, chamber music groups, choirs, and in solo recitals throughout the United States and Canada. He is a member of the Oregon Guitar Quartet, a group for which he has created numerous original compositions and arrangements.
Bryan plays custom hand-made classical guitars made by Jeffrey Elliot and Gregory Miller.
He currently lives in Portland with his wife Victoria, two cats, and thousands of honeybees.
Compositions
Published Works
Many of Johanson's compositions and arrangements for guitar have been published by Les Productions D'Oz, a Canadian publisher based in Quebec, Canada. Links can be found below.
Les Productions D'Oz
Click here for link to catalog
of solo and ensemble works
Concoctions from the Kitchen
Michael Partington performs recent Johanson compostions for solo guitar
Playing Classical Guitar
A comprehensive method for Classical Guitar
available from Les Producions D'Oz
The essential issues involved in the cultivating and maintaining proper technique and daily practice habits.
In this ambitious series, Bryan Johanson and Jesse McCann seek to address this missing element in the study of classical guitar. In light of the sheer volume of guitar music written over the centuries, not to men- tion early works by the guitar’s plucked-string relatives, the authors’ choices were by necessity limited to a select group of “standards.” These might be considered among the most popular works in the guitar canon, admired over the years by performers, students, and audiences alike for their beauty, musical expression, and idiomatic sonority. There are, of course, other pieces that could have been included. But by choosing works that give a broad survey of styles across musical periods (Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and early 20th century) written by some of the guitar’s most important composers, the authors present a com- prehensive cross-section of the essential repertoire for the instrument. - William Kanengiser
A daily primer for improving sight-reading on the guitar.
In this ambitious series, Bryan Johanson and Jesse McCann seek to address this missing element in the study of classical guitar. In light of the sheer volume of guitar music written over the centuries, not to men- tion early works by the guitar’s plucked-string relatives, the authors’ choices were by necessity limited to a select group of “standards.” These might be considered among the most popular works in the guitar canon, admired over the years by performers, students, and audiences alike for their beauty, musical expression, and idiomatic sonority. There are, of course, other pieces that could have been included. But by choosing works that give a broad survey of styles across musical periods (Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and early 20th century) written by some of the guitar’s most important composers, the authors present a com- prehensive cross-section of the essential repertoire for the instrument. - William Kanengiser
A detailed and practical approach for mastering a piece of repertoire. Issues like chaining, proper use of the metronome, memory, proper ground work, the rule of 8 and functional analysis will be examined.
Other Ventures
The critically acclaimed Oregon Guitar Quartet is an ensemble of four of the finest classical guitarists residing in Portland, Oregon. The group, whose members currently include John Mery, Jesse McCann, Michael Partington and Bryan Johanson, has been performing and recording together for over a decade. Their 2010 debut album Something Wondrous Fair was praised by Soundboard’s Jim McCutcheon, who wrote, “…it is the joyousness, energy, and precision of the performance that convinces me that this group is one to hear.” Since then, the group has released seven more exciting and unique recordings each receiving rave reviews. Stream samples, order recordings and find performance dates at www.oregonguitarquartet.com
Beekeeping
Bryan has been keeping bees in his back yard since the summer of 2017. He has two top-bar hives and is enjoying transforming a life-long fascination into an urban beekeeping reality.
Oregon Terroir Guitar
In 2018 Bryan worked with luthier Gregory Miller to create a custom hand-made guitar celebrating his affinity for his home state. See Greg's fine work here.
Orchestral Composition
There are numerous symphonic and orchestral works by Bryan Johanson. Contact for more information.
Selected Videos
Selected Videos
Bryan Johanson Page 149
'Pluck, Strum, Hammer (Bryan Johanson)' by the Mela Guitar Quartet
Johanson 'Fresco II' played by Duo Solaris
Bryan Johanson - I dreamed about you last night - performed by Michael Neumann
