Anne E. Johnson - Author
Freelance Writer & Editor
Music journalism and other nonfiction by Anne E. Johnson
CLASSICAL VOICE NORTH AMERICA
"Purcell CDs Showcase Historical Music-Making." Dec. 19, 2023. Read it!
"The Tangled Baroquery of Handel's 'Rodelinda' Made Clear and Brilliant." Dec. 12, 2023. Read it!
"Concert as Storytelling: Others May Play Notes, Parlando Conjures Tales." Nov. 30, 2023. Read it!
"Vocalist, String Quartet Give Schubert a Shuffle and Turn Up All Aces." Nov. 13, 2023. Read it!
"Bird-Catching As Opera: Alfresco 'Nightingale' Offers Sly Morality Tale." Sept. 26, 2023. Read it!
"Staged Serenata, If Not Exactly Opera, Proved Exquisite Baroque Gem." July 1, 2023. Read it!
"Amid Flourish of Horns...Haydn's Symphonies." April 27, 2023. Read it!
"In Reimagined Tosca...A Raw Cabaret Vibe." April 12, 2023. Read it!
"Bologne Comic Opera, an 18th Century Gem." March 22, 2023. Read it!
"New Opera as Sapling: Glimpse at Machover's Lyric Portrait of Trees." March 9, 2023. Read it!
"The Play Was the Thing for Henry Purcell." Feb. 14, 2023. Read it!
"In Music of Our Time, Venerable Harpsichord Speaks." Jan. 27, 2023. Read it!
"Music for Triple Harp." Dec. 16, 2022. Read it!
"Gods Behaving Badly Ignite CD of French Opera Rarity." Nov. 29, 2022. Read it!
"Mining Neglected Veins of 20th-century Music." June 24, 2022. Read it!
"Fantasies for Keyboard Wafting Across Time from a Graf Fortepiano." June 1, 2022. Read it!
"Yanks at Fontainebleau: An Embracing Concert Celebrates a Centenary." May 6, 2022. Read it!
"Two New Bach Passions from Gardiner, Pichon Enhance Digital Options." April 15, 2022. Read it!
"Ancient Chinese Myths Invoked in Allegory of Earth's Climate Change." March 17, 2022. Read it!
"Revisiting Ravel, Mahler, Artists Galore Through Archive's Magic Portal." Feb. 16, 2022. Read it!
"Juilliard Turns Tables, Creates Splendid New Music School in China." May 3, 2021. Read it!
"Baroque Treasures for Voices, From North and South." April 10, 2020. Read it!
"The Nativity, Told from an African American Vantage." March 31, 2020. Read it!
"Baroque Splendor Laid Out in Crypt, for Live Listeners." March 9, 2020. Read it!
"For an Australian in NY, Premieres Grand, Intimate." Feb. 10, 2020. Read it!
"New Opera Proves Life, Death, Guilt in Stark Noh Style." Jan. 11, 2020. Read it!
"Song Cycles Honor Pride Month and Rise of Feminism." June 14, 2019. Read it!
"In a Creepy Twist, Queen Dido Goes Deep Underground." June 8, 2019. Read it!
"The Impossible She: Lesbian Romance Tells Moving Story." May 13, 2019. Read it!
"Singing a Bridge Across Centuries at the Cloisters." April 16, 2019. Read it!
"Works by Lang, Pärt Encompass Circle of Existence." March 22, 2019. Read it!
“Turnage’s Greek Shows It All (Plus Maggots) at BAM.” Dec. 8, 2018. Read it!
“BEMF Pays Stylish Visit to Alcina’s Bewitched Island.” Nov. 29, 2018. Read it!
"All-Pärt Concert Reflects Embrace of Music History." Nov. 16, 2018. Read it!
"Keyboard Partners Bring Spectacular Virtuosity to Bear." Oct. 29, 2018. Read it!
"An Island's Natives Resist, in English, Spanish, and Yiddish." Sept. 19, 2018. Read it!
"Huddled Masses Hitch a Ride on Haydn's Creation." July 25, 2018. Read it!
"Quartet Summons a Time and Place in Musical History." May 18, 2018. Read it!
"Finally, Cendrillon Gets to the Met, and It's Magical." April 16, 2018. Read it!
"Double Dose of Pygmalion Tale from City Opera." March 28, 2018. Read it!
"The Neighborhood Is Threatened by Hip Replacements." Oct. 16, 2018. Read it!
"From the Steppes, a Night of Music, Film, Guesswork." March 27, 2018. Read it!
"Unparsable Lines + Beautiful Music = 6. 20. Outrageous." Feb. 15, 2018. Read it!
"Four Wild Nights in a Brooklyn Music Incubator." Jan. 18, 2018. Read it!
“High Season for the Low Countries: New York Early Music Celebration.” Oct. 24, 2017. Read it!
"Puccini's Western Finds Comfy Home at NYCO." Sept. 11, 2017. Read it!
"Youth Speaks Transformatively in Silent Voices." May 16, 2017. Read it!
"Mannes Celebrates Training Musicians Through a Century." April 23, 2017. Read it!
"New Orpheus Opera By Anais Mitchell Recasts Legend In American Mold." May 5, 2016. Read it!
EARLY MUSIC AMERICA ONLINE AND EARLY MUSIC AMERICA MAGAZINE (EMAg)
"2023 EMA Awards." EMAg Jan. 2024.
"Salamone Rossi's 'Songs of Solomon' at 400." Nov. 2023. Read it!
"Women at the heart of TENET's 15th season. " Oct. 9, 2023. Read it!
"Period Instruments? Yes. Period Costumes? Uh..." May 8, 2023. Read it!
"Early Music Is Flowering on Philly's Main Line and Beyond." March 6, 2023. Read it!
"Historically Inspired Set Design for Haymarket's Monteverdi." Sept. 12, 2022. Read it!
Profile: Vielle player Shira Kammen. EMAg Sept. 2022. Read it!
"The Lonely Life of Baroque Pastiche." Aug. 1, 2022. Read it!
“Academy of Sacred Music Exalts Moses.” Jan. 7, 2019. Read it!
"Happy 350th, François!" Jan. 15, 2018. Read it!
"English Singers' Early Recordings Live Again." Early Music America. Nov. 20, 2017. Read it!
CHILCAGO ON THE AISLE
Review of 'Madagascar: A Musical Adventure' at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. July 25, 2017. Read it!
Review of violinist Angelo Xiang Yu at Grant Park Music Festival. July 20, 2017. Read it!
Interview with opera singer Susanna Phillips. June 20, 2017. Read it!
"Verdi's Requiem, As Bold Act by Nazi-Era Jews." March 21, 2017. Read it!
“Concert for America Brings Stellar Benefit to Chicago.” March 18, 2017. Read it!
"Lawn Awaits - Stars Have Got You Covered: Downbeat is Coming Up at Grant Park Fest." June 13, 2016. Read it!
“Tour Stop Ravinia 2016: Stars of Country, Rock, Indie, R&B and Jazz Are Headed This Way.” June 11, 2016. Read it!
“Tan Dun’s ‘Water Passion,’ Levine’s Return Highlight Ravinia’s Summer Classical Lineup.” June 8, 2016. Read it!
"Musical 'We Will Rock You' to Test the Embrace of Queen's Charm." Oct. 19, 2013. Read it!
NEW YORK TIMES
“OK, Everyone in Tune, Whatever That Means,” The New York Times Arts & Leisure, March 14, 1999, pp. 36, 39. Read it!
“Drawing Sound from the Sights of Medieval Art,” The New York Times Arts & Leisure, August 2, 1998, pp. 27, 30. Read it!
“Is It a New Day, and a New Technology, for the Timeless Passion?” The New York Times Arts & Leisure, April 12, 1998, pp. 33, 35. Read it!
“Before the Renaissance, A Renaissance Woman,” The New York Times Arts & Leisure, September 28, 1997, pp. 27, 34. Read it!
PS AUDIO'S COPPER MAGAZINE
Off the Charts column:
"Queen in the '70s" Read it! "Queen after the '70s" Read it! "David Bowie" Read It!
"Marianne Faithfull" Read it! "Dan Fogelberg" Read it! "Bonnie Raitt" Read it!
"The Who" Read it! "Imogen Heap" Read it! "Mumford & Sons" Read it!
"Peter Gabriel" Read it! "R.E.M." Read it! "The Pretenders" Read it
"Fleetwood Mac" Read it! "Tracy Chapman" Read it! "Mary Wells" Read it!
"The Clash" Read it! "James Taylor" Read it! "U2" Read it!
"Heart" Read it! "The Police" Read it! "Yeah Yeah Yeahs" Read it!
"Joni Mitchell" Read it! "Richie Havens" Read it! "Patty Loveless" Read it!
"Steely Dan" Read it! "Eurythmics" Read it! "Yusuf/Cat Stevens" Read it!
"Al Green" Read it! "Jefferson Airplane" Read it! "Everything but the Girl" Read it!
"Jackson Browne" Read it! "Red Hot Chili Peppers" Read it! "Marty Stuart" Read it!
"Cream" Read it! "Tori Amos" Read it! "Emerson, Lake & Palmer" Read it!
"Rush" Read it! "Howard Jones" Read it! "Warren Zevon" Read it!
"Billy Joel" Read it! "Deep Purple" Read it! "Everly Brothers" Read it!
"Etta James" Read it! "Spandau Ballet" Read it! "Mary Gauthier" Read it!
"Spencer Davis Group" Read it! "Journey" Read it! "Staple Singers" Read it!
"The Killers" Read it! "Siouxsie and the Banshees" Read it! "Paul Butterfield" Read it!
"Leon Russell" Read it! "Isley Brothers" Read it! "Rufus Wainwright" Read it!
"Melissa Etheridge" Read it! "The Pogues" Read it! "Kitty Wells" Read it!
"Led Zeppelin" Read it! "Talking Heads" Read it! "Devo" Read it!
"Tina Turner" Read it! "Patsy Cline" Read it! "The Cranberries" Read it!
"Kings of Leon" Read it! "Rod Stewart" Read it! "The Byrds" Read it!
"Grand Funk Railroad" Read it! "The Kinks" Read it! "Daft Punk" Read it!
"Bread" Read it! "Alison Krauss" Read it! "Dwight Yoakam" Read it!
"Dire Straits" Read it! "Johnny Cash" Read it! "Barbara Lynn" Read it!
"The Strokes" Read it! "Pat Benatar" Read it! "Pet Shop Boys" Read it!
"Wanda Jackson" Read it! "Small Faces/Faces" Read it! "Lou Reed" Read it!
"Sonic Youth" Read it! "Patty Griffin" Read it! "The Chicks" Read it!
"ZZ Top" Read it! "Otis Redding" Read it! "Del-Vikings" Read it!
"Echo & the Bunnymen" Read it! "Earth Wind & Fire" Read it! "Buffalo Springfield" Read it!
"Chet Atkins" Read it! "Joan Armatrading" Read it! "Martina McBride" Read it!
"Beck" Read it! "Nitty Gritty Dirt Band" Read it! "Amy Winehouse" Read it!
"John Legend" Read it! "Beastie Boys" Read it! "Psychedelic Furs" Read it!
"Kate Bush" Read it! "Mary Chapin Carpenter" Read it! "Raphael Saadiq" Read it!
"Alicia Keys" Read it! "The Band" Read it! "Living Colour" Read it!
"Randy Newman" Read it! "Roy Acuff" Read it! "Alan Jackson" Read it!
"Sam Cooke" Read it! "Doobie Brothers" Read it! "Darlene Love" Read it!
"Indigo Girls" Read it! "Elvis Costello" Read it! "The Bangles" Read it!
"Tanya Tucker" Read it! "Erykah Badu" Read it!
"The Animals" Read it! "Garbage" Read it!
Trading Eights column:
"Lee Morgan" Read it! "Marian McPartland" Read it! "Joe Williams" Read it! "Pat Metheny" Read it!
"Johnny Hodges" Read it! "Dianne Reeves" Read it! "Bobby Hutcherson" Read it! "Astrud Gilberto" Read it!
"Stephane Grappelli" Read it! "Billy Taylor" Read it! "NHØP" Read it! "Vassar Clements" Read it!
"Emily Remler" Read it! "Miles Davis" Read it! "Regina Carter" Read it! "Ron Carter" Read it!
"Poncho Sanchez" Read it! "Coleman Hawkins" Read it! "Don Byron" Read it! "Kurt Elling" Read it!
"Hugh Masekela" Read it! "Frank Sinatra" Read it! "Lester Young" Read it! "Tito Puente" Read it!
"Gene Krupa" Read it! "Nancy Wilson" Read it! "James Reese Europe" Read it! "Christian McBride" Read it!
"Marcus Miller" Read it! "Jelly Roll Morton" Read it! "Zoot Sims" Read it!
"Bill Watrous" Read it! "Jimmy Smith" Read it! "Toshiko Akiyoshi" Read it!
"Sam Rivers" Read it! "Milt Hinton" Read it! "Roy Eldridge" Read it!
"Mary Lou Williams" Read it! "Toshinori Kondo" Read it! "Jutta Hipp" Read it!
"Herbie Hancock" Read it! "Max Roach" Read it! "Chet Baker" Read it!
"Dinah Washington" Read it! "Sonny Rollins" Read it! "Diana Krall" Read it!
"Illinois Jacquet" Read it! "Int'l Sweethearts of Rhythm" Read it!
"Art Farmer" Read it! "Stanley Clarke" Read it! "Stanley Turrentine" Read it!
Something Old, Something New column:
"Gregorian Chant" Read it! "Caldara" Read it! "150 Years of Aida" Read it!
"Lute!" Read it! "Henry Purcell" Read it! "Louise Farrenc" Read it!
"Frescobaldi" Read it! "British & Irish Music" Read it! "Carl Maria von Weber" Read it!
"The Great 78 Project" Read it! "Heinrich Isaac" Read it! "Alessandro Stradella" Read it!
"Mozart Chamber Music" Read it! "Bach Violin Sonatas" Read it! "Francisco Guerrero" Read it!
"Unusual Madrigals" Read it! "Schubert's Winterreise" Read it! "Semele: Not just by Handel" Read it!
"Die Schöne Müllerin" Read it! "Tomas Luis de Victoria" Read it! "Beethoven Trios" Read it!
"CPE Bach Sonatas" Read it! "Orlando Gibbons" Read it! "Countertenors" Read it!
"G.B. Sammartini" Read it! "Schubert Symphonies" Read it! "Marin Marais" Read it!
"Medieval Spanish Chant" Read it! "Mozart String Quartets" Read it! "G.B. Pergolesi" Read it!
"François Couperin" Read it! "M & H Praetorius" Read it! "Heinrich Schütz" Read it!
"E. Jacquet de la Guerre" Read it! "Handel Arias" Read it! "Gabriel Fauré chamber music" Read it!
"J A Hasse" Read it! "Notre Dame Organum" Read it! "Bach St. Matthew Passion" Read it!
"Archangelo Corelli" Read it! "Fanny Mendelssohn" Read it! "Pietro Locatelli" Read it!
"Guillaume de Machaut" Read it! "Clara Wieck Schumann" Read it! "William Grant Still" Read it!
"Haydn Symphonies" Read it! "Bach Cello Suites" Read it! "Sarah Cahill: The Future is Female" Read it!
"Hildegard of Bingen" Read it! "Guillaume Dufay" Read it! "Ralph Vaughan Williams" Read it!
"Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice" Read it! "South American Baroque" Read it! "Orlande de Lassus" Read it!
"John Dowland" Read it! "Beethoven Piano Concertos" Read it! "Benjamin Britten" Read it!
"Mendelssohn Concertos" Read it! "Natural Horn" Read it! "Tomaso Albinoni" Read it!
"Schumann's Dichterliebe" Read it! "Thomas Tallis" Read it! "Maurice Ravel Chamber" Read it!
"Ethel Smyth" Read it! "Johannes Ockeghem" Read it! "Medieval Vocal Polyphony" Read it!
"The Goldberg Variations" Read it! "Marc-Antoine Charpentier" Read it! "Rossini Chamber Works" Read it!
"JC Bach" Read it! "Josquin des Prez" Read it!
"Troubadours, Trouvères, Minnesingers" Read it!
"Vivaldi's Four Seasons" Read it! "J-B Lully" Read it!
...And Indie For All column:
"Anais Mitchell" Read it! "Brendan Maclean" Read it!
"Hannah McPhillimy" Read it! "Pura Fé" Read it!
"Andy Suzuki" Read it! "JFDR" Read it!
"Little Simz" Read it! "Adrian Crowley" Read it!
"Deborah Conway" Read it! "Sunflower Bean" Read it!
"Petite Noir" Read it! "Anohni" Read it!
"Alice Phoebe Lou" Read it! "Mashrou' Leila" Read it!
"Celisse Henderson" Read it! "Hurray for the Riff Raff" Read it!
"Crying" Read it! "Matthew and the Atlas" Read it!
"Valerie June" Read it! "Yellow Light Machine" Read it!
"David Myles" Read it! "Jesca Hoop" Read it!
"Piano Club" Read it! "Be Steadwell" Read it!
"The F16's" Read it! "Michelle Zauner" Read it!
STEREOPHILE MAGAZINE
(This list includes feature-length pieces; for all short reviews, search on Stereophile.com)
Rabbit Hole: 11-disc collection of outtakes from Glenn Gould's 1981 Goldberg Variation recording sessions. April 2023. Read it!
Recording of the Month: John Mellencamp, Strictly a One Eyed Jack. May 2022. Read it!
Recording of the Month: Blind Date Party. March 2022. Read it!
Hi-Fi Lo-Fi: 20 Years of the Best Sounding Indie Rock. October 2021. Read it!
Phoenix Rising - Rhiannon Giddens feature. June 2021. Read it!
Recording of the Month: Alice Phoebe Lou. Live at Funkhaus. Aug. 2020. Read it!
Recording of the Month: EOB - Earth. July, 2020. Read it!
MIDDLE-GRADE NONFICTION BOOKS
Being a Leader. Strong, Healthy Girls series. Scheduled for 2020.
Exploring Ancient India. Exploring Ancient Civilizations series, 12-Story Press, 2017.
Jazz Tap: From African Drums to American Feet. Part of the Library of African American Arts and Culture. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 1999.
A Student’s Guide to African American Genealogy. Co-authored with Adam Merton Cooper. Part of the Oryx Family Tree Series. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1996.
A Student’s Guide to British American Genealogy. Part of the Oryx Family Tree Series. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1996.
Four volumes of the Indigenous Peoples of the World Series. Danbury, CT: Grolier Educational Corporation, 1995: Inuit. Volume 3, Karenni. Volume 4, Mentawai. Volume 7, Naga. Volume 9
OTHER NONFICTION
"Case Study: How I Landed a $2500 Fiction Writing Gig." Freedom with Writing. May 2019. Read it!
"18 Awards for Children's Books." Authors Publish. Sept., 2017. Read it!
"Research 101 - Going to the Library in the Internet Age." Astrohaus Freewrite Blog. August, 2017. Read it!
“Women Speculative Fiction Writers Form Broad Universe.” WomenArts. April 12, 2017. Read it!
"11 Magazines that Pay for Short Stories for Teens and/or Children." Freedom with Writing. June 14, 2016. Read it!
"Singing on a Grave." Sweatpants and Coffee. May 30, 2016. Read it!
"Utopian Future." Essay for The Oracle Exhibition, "What Is Your Prophecy for the Future." Sept. 12-Oct. 6, 2013, The Wand Gallery, Berlin, Germany.
“A Sailor’s Heart.” Pink Chameleon Online, No. 11, June, 2010. Read it!
"Not Your Typical Game of Catch.” Stories for Children. December, 2009, pp. 10-11.
“A Bit of Bach,” Stagebill, Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart Festival (August, 2000), pp. 9-11, 28-29.
Ten reviews of classical music recordings in Tower Records’ Pulse Magazine. Sept., 1999 – April, 2001.
Program notes for clarinet recital by Richard Stoltzman, Colden Center for the Performing Arts at Queens College, New York, April 26, 1998.
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