Carter Johnson, son of Marc and Loreen Johnson from Campbell River has been awarded the 2017 Keen Halleran Memorial Scholarship, given to a student studying music at the post-secondary level.
The Keen Halleran Scholarship was first established in May 2003 as the Halleran Scholarship by Frances Keen (1955-2006) in recognition of her high school band/choir and piano teachers, Noreen and Mickey Halleran of Quesnel, B.C. Unfortunately, Keen passed away before she could finish her project.
When the project was completed, Keen’s name was added to the scholarship in recognition of her work as an elementary choir and band teacher, as a community choir director and as an advocate of music education in the community.
Praised for his interpretive depth and artistic integrity, 21-year-old Carter Johnson is establishing a reputation as one of Canada’s most promising young pianists. His competition experience includes being selected to compete in the Shenzhen International Piano Concerto Competition, the Hilton Head International Piano Competition, and the Julia Crane International Piano Competition, where he won second prize at the age of 16. Johnson’s other competition prize winnings include Second Place (along with the Baroque and chamber music prizes) in the CFMTA National Piano Competition at age 14, the award for the best interpretation of the imposed work at the OSM Manulife Competition, third prize in the 2016 Shean Piano Competition, and many awards at Performing Arts B.C., including First Prize in all Four Canadian divisions. His extensive concerto repertoire ranges from Bach to Prokofiev, and he has performed with several prestigious orchestras including the Victoria Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of Northern New York.
Johnson plans to graduate in 2018 with a B.Mus in piano performance from the UBC School of Music, studying under Mark Anderson. Before this, he studied for 12 years with Shelley Roberts in Campbell River, with whom he began piano at the age of five. He also studied advanced theory with Sandy Havelaar. He holds ARCTs in piano performance (with distinction) and piano pedagogy (for which he received the gold medal for the highest mark in Canada). In addition to his pianistic endeavors, Johnson has also studied harpsichord, voice, and oboe. He holds an ATCL in speech and drama, and he has won several awards for his performance of Shakespeare.
In addition to his musical career, Carter also got married last August, and he and his wife Hannah (also a piano teacher) are expecting a baby boy in May.