Leslie's Academy of Violin/Viola Arts
Leslie Faye Johnson

 

 

Welcome

Violinist and violist Leslie Faye Johnson received much of her performance training at the Juilliard School, where she studied with William Lincer, completing both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees; her Doctorate is from the University of Washington, where she studied with Steven Staryk and Eric Shumsky.  Other teachers include Henryk Kowalski and Georg Janzer at Indiana University, Kim Kashkashian in New York City, Stephen Shingles in London, and Daniel Benjamini in master classes at the Aldeburgh Festival at the Britten-Pears School in England. Her dissertation on the Shostakovich Viola Sonata has been published by Barenreiter.

Leslie performed as Principal Violist/Solo Violist of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra in Seattle from 1990-2000.  She has been a guest artist on many prominent Northwest chamber music series, including the Olympic Music Festival, Chamber Music San Juans and the Second City Chamber Music Series.  She is also a champion of contemporary music and has premiered many new solo and chamber works.

Leslie has taught at Eastern Washington University, where she was Assistant Professor of Violin/Viola and a member of the Spokane String Quartet.  Leslie’s private students have won top prizes in the Washington State Solo and Ensemble Competition, and are successfully pursuing careers in music performance and education.

Leslie is the Artistic Director for Bellingham’s new summer chamber music festival, The Amadeus Chamber Music Festival.  For 2012 the festival will start on June 22 and run through July 1.   Come back to this site for further info when available.