Top of page
Skip to main content
Main content

Elisabeth Remy-JohnsonArtist Affiliate: HarpPrincipal Harp, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

About

Elisabeth Remy Johnson was appointed principal harpist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 1995. She holds the endowed Delta Air Lines Chair, and also held the honorary UPS Community Service Chair for 2006-07. With the Atlanta Symphony, Ms. Remy Johnson has performed concertos by Debussy, Handel, Mozart, and Ginastera.

Winner of first-place awards in competitions of the American Harp Society and the American String Teachers Association, she is also an NFAA/ARTS awardee. Her studies were with Ann Hobson Pilot in Boston and with Alice Chalifoux at the Salzedo Summer Harp Colony in Camden, Maine. She graduated from Harvard University Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in Music and French.

In addition to her numerous orchestra recordings with the ASO, she recorded Britten's "Ceremony of Carols" with Robert Shaw and his Chamber Singers for the Telarc recording "A Robert Shaw Christmas: Angels on High". Ms. Remy Johnson's first solo CD, “Whirlwind”, recorded on the ACA Digital Recording label, was released in fall 2000. A flute and harp recording with ASO principal flutist Christina Smith, "Encantamiento", was released in fall 2008. The American Record Guide writes: "This collection is aptly named, for we have enchantment here long before we reach the composition with that title, and the sound of Elisabeth Remy Johnson's harp is captured with exceptional brilliance, her artistry a constant joy."

In addition to frequent solo and chamber music recitals in the Atlanta area, Ms. Remy Johnson has performed with the Atlanta Chamber Players, the Carolina Chamber Music Festival, and is a frequent guest at the Meeting House Chamber Music Festival on Cape Cod, MA. Ms. Remy Johnson has performed at the American Harp Society National Conventions numerous times. Recently, she was invited to give a solo recital at the International Harp Festival in Rio de Janeiro and was the featured guest solo artist at the 2012 Mid Atlantic Harp Festival.

Ms. Remy Johnson teaches harp privately, through the ASO Talent Development Program, and at several universities in the Atlanta area. She coaches the harpists of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and is an artist affiliate at Emory University, Artist in Residence at Kennesaw State University, and Adjunct Instructor at Georgia State University.

Ms. Remy Johnson is co-founder and was artistic director (2000-2010) of the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble, a program serving 55 students from several Atlanta Public Schools. For this work, she received Atlanta's Channel Eleven Community Service Award and the TBS Pathfinder Award. In the fall of 2009, Ms. Remy Johnson was awarded the Atlanta Business Chronicle's "Up & Comers Award", also known as "40 under 40", showcasing young community leaders in Atlanta.