Editor’s note: The Capital City Weekly is running Q&As with Meghan Johnson and Bill Paulick ahead of Juneau Symphony’s fall concert, “Sizzling Strings.”
The concert — as you’ll see in Paulick’s Q&A — features visiting French horn player Jim Thatcher, who has played for hundreds of film scores. The concert will feature “both new and timeless symphonic classics” including Sibelius’ “grand and majestic” Andante Festivo, which will begin the concert, and Schumann’s Fourth Symphony. Thatcher will play Ewazen’s “suspenseful” horn concerto.
The concert is Saturday, Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. at Juneau-Douglas High School. Tickets are $17 to $32 and available at the JACC, Hearthside Books, or online.
What is your earliest musical memory?
When I was four years old my parents would drop me at day care in someone’s home very early in the morning. The family had an upright piano in the living room. I would play it for hours until it was time to go to preschool.
What is your instrument, and when did you start playing it?
I play cello. The first time I heard a cello was when I was eight years old and I just loved the sound of it. I always knew I wanted to play! I grew up in Tucson and was lucky enough to have a school orchestra program so I was able to start playing at aged nine. I begged for lessons and wanted my own cello. But my parents were not musical and I didn’t get to start lessons until I was 14. So I got a late start but I worked very hard at it. I started with Suzuki Book 1 at 14! Now I teach with the JAMM program and I feel a huge connection with those kids. Like me, most of them don’t come from a musical background and do not take private lessons. It is exciting because you really never know how far music will take them and what doors it will open.
What is one of your favorite pieces of music? What about it moves you?
I love playing orchestral music. I remember I just loved one of the first pieces I played with the Juneau Symphony, the Sibelius Symphony No. 2; I have played it with several symphonies, and the piece is still very moving. I also love playing Dvorak’s New World Symphony, the Shostakovich No. 5, and I also loved playing Sweeney Todd by Sondheim with the symphony. There are just some favorite classics that every musician loves to play and everyone loves to hear. Music is so powerful, and it brings to life such universal human emotions. I love how music communicates so much about humanity!
Who inspires you musically? Why and how?
When I was younger, I was inspired mostly by string players that I saw in rock bands. I was excited to see how diverse string music can be. For example, as a teenager I loved the violinist in the Dave Matthews band. I love playing in an orchestra, but I’ve also played in rock bands and folk groups as well. Also, because I started lessons so late I had lots of cellists to look up to in my community as a young player.
What are you looking forward to about the upcoming concert, Sizzling Strings?
This music is really fun to play. With our new conductor Troy Quinn we are playing lots of new and different things. I like exploring different composers like Schumann, whose Fourth Symphony we are playing for this concert. I also enjoy having out-of-town musicians come to play in Juneau; I’m always excited to meet them. Of course, it is also fun to play in a concert that focuses heavily on strings. In fact, I have a solo part in this concert so I have to really focus on practicing right now! I get the jitters just like my students do so I work as hard as I can.
• Meghan Johnson is the principal cellist of the Juneau Symphony. She studied music in college and has a masters degree in music performance, She is currently an MAT student at UAS, and teaches young string players in the Juneau Alaska Music Matters (JAMM) program.
