Carter Johnson, a pianist from Campbell River, is the winner of the Stanislaw Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music, a competition celebrating the legacy of 19th– and 20th-century Polish music, held in Rzeszów, the largest city in southeastern Poland.
The competition took place across eight consecutive days in mid-September in the Artur Malawski Podkarpacka Philharmonic Hall. Only the second edition of this newly formed biennial competition, it was open to pianists and chamber ensembles who chose from repertoire lists of 56 Polish composers. A total of 23 ensembles qualified along with 11 pianists.
The competition culminated in an awards ceremony and finale concert on Saturday, September 18 followed by a repetition 2 days later in the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall. First prize was €20,000 and numerous concert engagements.
Johnson grew up in Campbell River and was a piano pupil of Shelley Roberts from 2001 to 2014. Throughout his music career, Johnson performed in numerous CR Rotary Honours Concerts, did fundraisers for the Friends of Music, toured Vancouver Island and vicinity with famed Comox Valley cellist, Helena Jung, performed duet concerts with another local prodigy, Matthew Krell, and was a master teacher for Campbell River Music Week.
Johnson, at age 16, was the first non-resident of Victoria to be invited to perform at the annual Victoria Symphony’s Splash on the barge. Carter was a winner of local music scholarships: the Ruth Scott Chopin Competition and the Virginia Graczak Music Scholarship, founded by Susie & Michael Moscovich. He went on to win prestigious national awards as well, winning both Grand Prize in the OSM Manulife Competition as well as first prize (along with the prize for the best performance of the test piece) in the CMC Stepping Stone competition.
Carter is currently studying at Yale School of Music after having completed a Master of Music in Piano at the Juilliard School in NYC. He is currently residing in New Haven Conneticut with wife, Hannah and their 2 boys, Preston and Ambros.
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sean.feagan@campbellrivermirror.com
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