Jennifer began her musical training in southern Ontario, Canada and earned her Honours Performance Degree from Converse College, South Carolina, studying there with Paul Statsky. She was Director of the Suzuki Talent Education Program at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, before coming to St. John’s, Newfoundland in 1993 to play as principal second violin of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and second violin of the Atlantic String Quartet.
During her twelve years playing with the Atlantic String Quartet, she performed regularly with artists of international acclaim including Krystof Penderecki, Dennis Brott, Patrick Gallois, Rivka Golani, and Anton Kuerti.
In addition to her performing career, she also has a well-established reputation as a pedagogue in St. John’s. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to the advancement of musical education, specifically through the Suzuki Talent Education Program of St. John’s of which she served as Artistic Director from 1998-2002.
In 2004, a generous grant from the Canada Council for the Arts funded a 7-month Alexander Technique sabbatical for Jennifer which permitted her to study throughout Europe and the United States with many of the world’s leading Alexander Technique teachers. Some of these teachers included Pedro de Alcantara, Walter Carrington, Marjorie Barlow, Joan and Alexander Murray and Barbara Conable. Jennifer went on to train with Barbara Conable and in 2005 became Canada’s first certified Andover Educator. She now presents Body Mapping workshops across the country working with musicians who are interested in learning to enhance their musical ability and to prevent injury through a clear understanding of how their bodies are designed to move.
Schedule for Jennifer Johnson
Location :
St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
Date/Time :
1st 2 weeks of August, 2008
Instructor :
Jennifer Johnson
Description :
Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival, Memorial University, School of Music
Two 3-hour sessions on Body Mapping for students of the Tuckamore Festival
for more information:
Location :
Houston, Texas
Date/Time :
July 28, 2008
Instructor :
Jennifer Johnson
Description :
Lecture for ROPA. For more information:
Course Participants’ Comments:
“Thanks again for offering the wonderful course. I’m much more aware of what’s going on with movement as I play and I look forward to further exploration of the map.”
“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me. It has made such a difference. I can play again, something I thought I was never going to be able to enjoy again….I owe my university degree to you!”
“When I am consciously thinking about and applying what I learned in the course the pain almost instantly disappears…The more difficult passages where I would often become a little more tense are feeling much freer, thus allowing for a sound that is freer.”
“I enjoyed the workshop very much and found the information very interesting and useful. I think this is critical information for music teachers and hope we can have you present some of this to our pedagogy classes next year.”
Jennifer began her musical training in southern Ontario, Canada and earned her Honours Performance Degree from Converse College, South Carolina, studying there with Paul Statsky. She was Director of the Suzuki Talent Education Program at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, before coming to St. John’s, Newfoundland in 1993 to play as principal second violin of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and second violin of the Atlantic String Quartet.
