Lawrence L. Johnson's Page

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About me:: LAWRENCE JOHNSON was born in 1942 in North Tonawanda, NY. From age 2 to age 19 he lived with his parents in Rochester, NY where he graduated from West High School. He began teaching himself Classical guitar at age 17 after hearing a recording of the great master of the classical guitar, Andres Segovia. One year later he began lessons with a student of Segovia, John De Rose of Niagara Falls, NY.

At age 20 he moved to Washington, DC where he became associated with many guitarists including Sophocles Papas, who was a lifelong friend of Segovia. It was through this connection that he met and auditioned for Segovia and was accepted as a student. Thus a dream was fulfilled and he studied with the master guitarist in 1966. During this period he also studied with such other masters as Oscar Ghiglia, Christopher Parkening, Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya. Also in the 1960's and early 1970's he performed many concerts throughout the United States including his New York Town Hall debut.

In 1968 Lawrence Johnson moved back to his home town of Rochester, NY where he eventually joined the faculties of 3 colleges, Nazareth College of Rochester, Finger Lakes Community College and Roberts Wesleyan College. He recently retired from Roberts Wesleyan College where he taught for over 30 years.

In 1983 Lawrence Johnson began an extensive recording project (15 CDs) on the ELAN and CRG labels of the complete solo guitar works of 19th century Spanish master composer Fernando Sor to critical acclaim. He was featured in an extensive interview along with a cover photo in the distinguished British journal "Guitar International" (February 1988). He was also Featured in other extensive interviews and articles and photos in the American publication "Guitar Player" (September 1989) and "Guitart" (July/September 2005, American Edition). Beside these articles and features he has contributed articles and received many other reviews etc.

Lawrence L. Johnson's Page

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