Amanda Johnston

Canadian collaborative pianist Amanda Johnston joined the faculty at the University of Mississippi in 2008 as Assistant Professor of Music. She enjoys a thriving career as a vocal coach and specialises in comparative diction. At UM, she is Head Coach for the Opera Theatre, teaches two courses in advanced diction, and coaches students at the undergraduate and graduate level. She is the author of the diction textbook English and German for Singers: A Comparative Approach (forthcoming publication with Scarecrow Press, December 2010).

She is also on faculty at Lied Austria, an intensive international summer programme for singers in Leibnitz, Austria. Since 2004, Ms Johnston has been the Artistic Director of "In Recital," a recital series held at the Heliconian Hall in Toronto, designed both to showcase Canadian singers and to cultivate the art song. She was educated at Queen's University at Kingston, the Hochschule für Musik "Franz Liszt" in Weimar, Germany, and the Janáček Academy of Music in Brno, Czech Republic.

Ms Johnston has held positions at the University of Toronto, Royal Conservatory of Music, and York University. She has coached and prepared complete productions of Carmen, Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Die Fledermaus, Die Zauberflöte, L'elisir d'amore, Le nozze di Figaro, Rigoletto, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, and Don Giovanni. Bilingual in German and English, she also has a high proficiency in French and Italian.

Ms Johnston has received grants from both the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council to work with masters in the field of collaborative piano, most notably Malcolm Martineau, Rudolf Jansen, Martin Isepp, Dalton Baldwin, Elly Ameling, Wolfgang Holzmair, and Helmut Deutsch. Further professional development has included attending the Franz-Schubert-Institut (Baden), Académie Francis Poulenc (Tours), Académie internationale d'Été (Nice), Oxenfoord International Summer School (St. Andrews, Scotland), and the Aspen Music Festival. She has been broadcast on CBC Radio 2 and has performed in Canada, the United States, Germany, France, Austria, and Scotland.

[ Personal home page: www.amandajohnston.ca ]