British-American Clarinettist Jean Johnson is an international collaborator in chamber music programs and as such has played in some of world’s finest venues notably the Concertgebouw, Berlin Konzerthaus, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Palais des Beaux-Arts. As part of her varied musical life, Ms. Johnson is a member of the critically acclaimed trio ensemble,”Metamorphoses”with pianist Ilona Timchenko, and violist Mikhail Zemtzov, and forms a duo with pianist Steven Osborne.

Notable chamber music festivals include Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center NYC, International Chamber Music Series Southbank Centre London, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Spannungen in Heimbach, Lammermuir Festival, Storioni Festival Eindhoven, Festival Peregrinos Musicales in Santiago de Compostela, Bath Music Festival, Hindsgavl Festival Denmark, Schwetzingen, Prussia Cove in Cornwall, St. Magnus Festival in Orkney, and many others.  She has collaborated with chamber music groups around the world, such as the Utrecht, Heath, Edinburgh, and T’Ang Quartets, the Hebrides Ensemble, and has been a concerto soloist with leading orchestras. Other collaborations have included chamber concerts with Danny Driver, Danae Doerken, Alban Gerhardt, Alina Abrigamova, James Ehnes, Alessio Bax, and Osmo Vanska. Forthcoming performances include concerts with Metamorphoses, Hebrides Ensemble, and the Utrecht String Quartet.

Jean Johnson is a passionate and versatile educator whose work spans instrumental teaching, chamber music coaching, orchestral training, and musician wellbeing. Alongside teaching clarinet at St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh, she coaches chamber music ensembles, helping young musicians develop their collaborative skills, musical imagination, and artistic confidence.

Jean also works closely with many of the clarinettists at the University of Edinburgh and serves as a coach for the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland (NYOS), where she works with both the clarinet section and the wider wind section. Drawing on her extensive experience as an international soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player, she equips students with the technical, musical, and professional skills needed to thrive at every stage of their development.

Committed to nurturing the whole musician, Jean integrates her expertise as a fitness and yoga instructor into her educational work. She leads mindful movement and yoga sessions for NYOS, as well as for participants in the St Mary’s International Summer Piano School and Summer Vocal School, supporting young musicians in developing body awareness, focus, resilience, and wellbeing. Her teaching is characterised by warmth, curiosity, and a belief that music-making should be both rigorous and joyful.

Jean Johnson was a student of Michael Sussman, earning both Performance and Music Education degrees at the University of Massachusetts. She attended Indiana University as an Associate Instructor in Clarinet, studying with Eli Eban and Alfred Prinz. As a Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival she studied with Theodore Oien. Ms. Johnson began her career with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in the posts of Associate and Acting Principal Clarinet. She enjoys frequent orchestral collaborations and is a regular Guest Principal with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and has been a Guest Principal with other leading orchestras such the Scottish Opera, Bergen Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and Royal Scottish National Orchestra among many others.

Jean has recorded both Brahms and Rozsa Sonatas on the Avie label, and most recently works by Jenner, Schumann, and Weber on the Linn label with Steven Osborne.

“Listeners will savour Johnson’s mellifluous and beguiling sound, sometimes gently inflected with subtle vibrato, her clarity of articulation, assured control, and with her partner, judicious use of tempo rubato.” -Ingrid Pearson BBC Music Magazine

“A fine recording by the poised clarinetist Jean Johnson. Beautiful renditions of Brahms’s Clarinet Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 round out this lovely album.“- New York Times