Johnson, Charles T. (Charles Thomas), 1959-

The violinist Charles Thruston Johnson (1915-1996) was born in Louisiville, Kentucky. He was a descendant of Colonel Charles Mynn Thruston, a veteran of the American Revolution. Johnson studied privately with the violinist Carl Flesch, received degrees from the New York College of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, and attended the American Conservatory in Fountainbleu, Paris, on a scholarship. Over the course of his career, Johnson performed with the Chicago Symphony, the Kansas City Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Naumberg Symphony (where he was concertmaster), the Houston Symphony, the Paris Opera Ballet, and the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra, among other orchestras. He also performed as a soloist and in chamber groups.

Johnson was a pedagogue as well, heading the string department at the Conservatory of Music in Kansas City in the 1950s, and teaching violin and orchestral music in New York City high schools during the 1960s. He also conducted the New York City String Ensemble, a student group. During the 1970s and 1980s, Johnson directed the International Festival Series, an annual program of chamber music concerts held at Carnegie Recital Hall, in which he also performed.

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