Studies
Maggie Johns is in her final undergraduate year at the University of Maryland, studying with Dr. Larissa Dedova. In the past, Maggie has studied with Dr. Eugenia Posey-Marcos and Suzanna Kalina, as well as learned from artists such as Thomas Mastroianni, Randall Faber, Brian Ganz, Audrey Andrist, Boris Slutsky, Gábor Eckhardt, and Julian Martin.
Achievements and work
Maggie placed 1st at the 2016 Steinway Piano Society/FGCU Young Artist Piano Competition, 1st at the 2017 Music Foundation of Greater Naples Piano Competition, was a semi-final honors recital winner in the 2019 Knabe International Piano Competition, a semi-finalist in the 2019 American International Piano Competition, and a finalist in the University of Maryland Concerto Competition in both 2018 and 2019.
Maggie has been featured in the MCMTA Evelyn Swarthout-Patrick Hayes Scholarship Competition Concert at Strathmore Mansion, the 2019 UMD School of Music Honors Chamber Music Concert, the 2019 UMD School of Music convocation, and the 2018 and 2019 UMD School of Music Piano Division Showcases.
Maggie is currently a pianist at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Cheverly, Maryland.
Maggie has been featured in the MCMTA Evelyn Swarthout-Patrick Hayes Scholarship Competition Concert at Strathmore Mansion, the 2019 UMD School of Music Honors Chamber Music Concert, the 2019 UMD School of Music convocation, and the 2018 and 2019 UMD School of Music Piano Division Showcases.
Maggie is currently a pianist at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Cheverly, Maryland.
Interests
Performance & Outreach
Maggie loves to bring music to people and she consistently tries to program, organize, and perform in concerts whenever she can. For instance, Maggie has fostered a close relationship with residents at Collington Retirement Community, performing there in-person and virtually on numerous occasions. She has also programmed and organized a concert with several other young musicians at a nursing home in Salem, Ohio and has taught masterclasses and performed at Easton Middle School and Strathmore Mansion. Most recently, she organized, promoted, and performed in a concert of premieres in December of 2021, playing the works of her peers as well as her own composition.
Chamber Music
Maggie is especially passionate about chamber music. She has performed a variety of works for four hands, two pianos, violin/piano, cello/piano, piano quartet, and quintet.
Maggie also formed a piano/woodwind trio which later expanded to the Pressez Quartet. Following the move to online classes due to COVID-19 in the spring of 2020, the Pressez Quartet collaborated on a project to record and layer their parts to the first movement of Jean-Michele Damase's Quatuor, which was subsequently featured on the UMD College of Arts and Humanities website.
The Pressez Quartet was admitted to the National Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Music Institute on full scholarship in 2021. The quartet was coached by Nicholas Stovall, principal oboist of the NSO, as well as Lisa Emmenheiser-Saratt, frequently-engaged pianist for the NSO. The Pressez Quartet was consequently featured on the NSO’s Facebook and YouTube pages following the institute.
In spring of 2022, Pressez will continue to expand to a sextet, and plans to collaborate with Ignis Quintet to premiere Desire Paths, a work for wind dectet and piano composed by Dr. William Kenlon.
Maggie also formed a piano/woodwind trio which later expanded to the Pressez Quartet. Following the move to online classes due to COVID-19 in the spring of 2020, the Pressez Quartet collaborated on a project to record and layer their parts to the first movement of Jean-Michele Damase's Quatuor, which was subsequently featured on the UMD College of Arts and Humanities website.
The Pressez Quartet was admitted to the National Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Music Institute on full scholarship in 2021. The quartet was coached by Nicholas Stovall, principal oboist of the NSO, as well as Lisa Emmenheiser-Saratt, frequently-engaged pianist for the NSO. The Pressez Quartet was consequently featured on the NSO’s Facebook and YouTube pages following the institute.
In spring of 2022, Pressez will continue to expand to a sextet, and plans to collaborate with Ignis Quintet to premiere Desire Paths, a work for wind dectet and piano composed by Dr. William Kenlon.
Teaching
Another major interest for Maggie is teaching. She is a 4-time teaching assistant for English 101, has tutored university-level students in music theory and aural skills, and teaches piano through her own studio as well as in affiliation with Chevy Chase Music.
Research
While Maggie loves being at the piano, she is equally interested in thinking about, reading about, and doing research on classical music away from her instrument. One topic that is at the forefront of her mind at the moment is how to create interesting, relevant, and meaningful classical programs. In the past, she has investigated the standards of value by which we judge classical music, how they have evolved over time, and how musicians can more effectively design concerts in order to emphasize the relevance and meaningfulness of classical performance.
