SHORT
Described by David Russell as a Guitarist of ‘outstanding talent’ - Bradley Johnson is a Classical Guitarist based in London.
Bradley has been drawn to modern music and has recently worked with on new solo repertoire with Gary Carpenter, David Gorton and Philip Cashian; this follows working closely on collaborations with Georg Friedrich Haas and Edward Cowie.
His first exposure to this style came in the form of Tippett’s 'Sonata - ‘The Blue Guitar’, a performance of which secured First Prize in the Ivor Mairants Guitar Award - described in Classical Guitar Magazine as possessing ‘strongly formed musical ideas and the ability to deliver them with a natural sense of spontaneity’. This was followed by a recital at the International Guitar Research Conference presented by The Musicians' Company in 2016.
Bradley began studying with Professor Michael Lewin at the Royal Academy of Music in 2017, from where he graduated in 2019 with Distinction, the DipRAM (the highest performance award conferred by the Academy) and First Prize in the Blyth Watson Guitar Concerto prize. After this, he was awarded a full scholarship for the Advanced Diploma course where he was selected to premiere and record new works for the Academy’s Bicentenary ‘200 Pieces’ project; he was awarded the Bache Fund Prize upon graduating in 2021.
Since 2018, he has been a Yeoman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians and an IGF Young Artist since 2021. He holds a First Class Honours Degree from the Royal Northern College of Music where he studied with Craig Ogden, he has received a Special Commendation from the Boise Foundation Scholarship Trust and his studies were supported twice by the Blyth Watson Charitable Trust Award and the Charlotte Fraser Award.
LONG
Described by David Russell as a Guitarist of ‘outstanding talent’ - Bradley Johnson is a Classical Guitarist based in London.
He has performed in venues and festivals across the country, including King's Place, Bridgewater Hall, Duke's Hall, University of Surrey, Liverpool University and Buxton Festival. Masterclasses he has participated in include artists and teachers such as Zoran Dukic, Ricardo Gallen, Jose Antonio Escobar, Elena Papandreou and Gordon Crosskey.
Bradley graduated from the Royal Academy of Music's Advanced Diploma course where he studied with Professor Michael Lewin, establishing a strong penchant for new music; the project has yielded four premiere recordings by Gary Carpenter, Phil Cashian, David Gorton and Marino-Arcaro and will be released by the Academy in 2022 as part of their Bicentenary. He was awarded the Bache Fund Prize upon graduating in 2021.
This follows his studies at RAM where he graduated with an MA with Distinction, the DipRAM (the highest performance award conferred by the Academy) and First Prize in the Blyth Watson Guitar Concerto prize in 2019. During this time he performed for the 400+ Series, Tuesday and Thursday Series, as well as receiving guidance from David Russell and Fabio Zanon and coaching from Professor Stephen Goss and Timothy Walker. He also performed twice for the Assad Brothers, David Leisner as well as Early Music specialists, Nigel North and Elizabeth Kenny.
In 2015, he was awarded First Prize for the Ivor Mairants Guitar Award, which led to a performance representing the Worshipful Company of Musicians in the International Guitar Research Conference at the University of Surrey the following year. Soon after, this led to a placement onto the European Guitar Teacher’s Association’s (EGTA) ‘Young Performer’s Platform’. In 2017, he graduated with First Class Honours from the Royal Northern College of Music where he studied with Craig Ogden.
He has also been involved with the International Guitar Research Centre; he was invited to perform at the Centenary celebrations of Reginald Smith-Brindle in 2017, where he performed solo works along with rare Guitar Duos with Professor Steven Thachuk from California State University - their first performance since their premières by Julian Bream and John Williams in the 1980s. Similar projects include collaboration with internationally respected composer, Georg Friedrich Haas in 2019, where he performed his 'Quartett' with colleagues from the RAM.
Bradley is currently one third of the Cerulean Trio with fellow guitarists Michael Matthews and Gonçalo Maia Caetano. Despite being a new project, the trio has already enjoyed success performing at Uppsala Guitar Festival in Sweden after reaching the final of the festival's competition in 2023.
Alongside the Guitar, he has performed on Mandolin with Academy Symphony Orchestra, Manson Ensemble and Castalian String Quartet. A performance of Don Giovanni’s Serenade with Academy Opera was described by Brian Dickie of Chicago Opera as ‘astonishingly beautiful’. He is currently Mandolinist with the Mezzacapo Ensemble with Stuart McGowan, Rob Garcia and Jamie MacRae.
During his studies, he received numerous scholarships for his studies, including a Special Commendation from the Boise Foundation Scholarship Trust, being twice awarded the Blyth Watson Charitable Trust Award and the Charlotte Fraser Award. During this time he was also a Yeoman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians and an IGF Young Artist.
Aside from performing, Bradley is also a dedicated teacher. After being awarded the Academy's teaching diploma (LRAM) with Distinction, he tutored Guitar for the BMus course at King's College London.
Bradley plays Guitars by Philip Woodfield (Grand Concert II - 'Orsolya', 2013) and Manuel Contreras (Doble-Tapa, 1987). He currently lives in Wimbledon with his Pomeranian, Quincy.