MUSICIANS

REBEKAH JOHNSON began the violin at 3 years of age with Ilza Niemack in Ames, Iowa. Her first public performance was at age 6 on a CBS television special playing the first solo part in Bach's Double Violin Concerto. She also won the Minneapolis Young People's Competition that same year with a performance of the Mozart 4th Violin Concerto. She left Iowa at 16 to study with Ivan Galamian and Sally Thomas at the Juilliard School. Her chamber music coaches included Josef Gingold and Leonard Rose.

Johnson has been a member of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra since 1993.

She was the recipient of two grants from the Mellon Fund and currently plays the Guarnerius del Gesu ex Serdat (one of the symphony's Golden Age Collection instruments).  She also performs solos throughout the United States and Europe and is a regular guest artist at the Grand Teton Music Festival, Park City International Festival, Roycroft Festival and the Coastal Carolina Chamber Music Festival. She recently performed 2 solo recitals at Carnegie Hall with pianist J.Y. Song, appeared on the soldout 2004 New Year's Eve "Sextet in the City" concert at Carnegie Hall, toured Africa with solo appearances at the 2002 Bulawayo Festival in Zimbabwe and was the violinist of the Leonore Trio. A new CD called "Fantasy" with music of Schubert, Villa-Lobos and Castelnuovo-Tedescu will be released next year and her recording of the Bach Partitas for solo violin is currently available on Amazon.com.

 In addition to music she is also dedicated to community service. Johnson was part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's 2005 Team in Training and has been a volunteer tutor in the New York City public schools. She is also recognized as a fine arts photographer.