Joyce Finch Johnson (born Joyce Finch in Bowling Green, KY) is
Professor Emerita
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
of music at
Spelman College
Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman re ...
in Atlanta
[Music Faculty]
Spelman College where she taught for more than 50 years.
[Celebrating The Sisters Of Spelman]
by Jeanette Valentine, Soul Of America She has been the organist at Spelman since 1955. In April 1968, as slain civil rights leader
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
lay in state at Spelman's Sister's Chapel for 48 hours, it was Johnson who played the organ while 20,000 people filed past to pay their respects.
[While MLK Was Lying In Repose At Spelman, Organist Joyce Johnson Played On]
by Kaitlyn Lewis, WABE Atlanta, April 4, 2018 In July 2023, she played the organ at the college's memorial service for MLK's sister
Christine King Farris
Willie Christine King Farris (born September 11, 1927) is the eldest sibling of Martin Luther King Jr. She taught at Spelman College and is the author of several books and was a public speaker on various topics, including the King family, multicu ...
.
Biography
Joyce Finch was born in
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. As of the 2 ...
, where she graduated from State Street High School. Her mother taught piano lessons and by age nine, Finch, who had learned to play by ear, was playing hymns in local churches. She studied classical piano music and gave her first recital at age eleven in
Ashland, Kentucky
Ashland is a home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The largest city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon a southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West Virginia. The population was 21,6 ...
.
Joyce Finch Johnson: A Legacy to Spelman College, Atlanta, and Beyond
' By Raoy Belfield Jr, The American Organist
The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educat ...
, September 2019
She entered
Fisk University
Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...
in 1949 where she studied piano under William Duncan Allen and music theory under
John Wesley Work III
John Wesley Work III (July 15, 1901 – May 17, 1967) was a composer, educator, choral director, musicologist and scholar of African-American folklore and music.
Biography
He was born on July 15, 1901, in Tullahoma, Tennessee, to a family of ...
. She graduated from Fisk in 1953,
[ the same year as future Spelman College colleague Etta Zuber (later Falconer).][Black Women In Mathematics: Etta Zuber Falconer](_blank)
/ref>
In 1953 John Wesley Work III recommended Finch to Spelman College Glee Club director Willis Laurence James
Willis Laurence James (September 18, 1900 – December 27, 1966) was an American musician, composer and educator. He was on the faculty of Spelman College for more than three decades.Megan Hill"Willis Laurence James – MBC visits the Spelman Colle ...
for a teaching position and she began her 50 career at Spelman that same year. In 1955 following the retirement of Kemper Harreld
William Kemper Harreld (January 31, 1885, Muncie, Indiana – 1971) was an American concert violinist. He was also a pianist and organist.
A graduate of Chicago Musical College, Harreld performed until 1911 when he became head of the music dep ...
she became college organist.
From Music Prodigy to Spelman Legend
' Spellman Messenger, The Alumni Magazine of Spelman College, Fall 2004 (Vol. 117 No. 2), pp. 2-4Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
, Cleveland Institute of Music
The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1920 by Ernest Bloch, it enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing educatio ...
and the Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman.
It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...
, studying piano and organ with teachers including Karel Paukert
Karel Paukert (pronounced Karl Poukert) (January 1, 1935 in Skuteč in the Czech Republic) is a Czech-American organist, choir director and educator.
He graduated from the Prague Conservatory, and the Ghent Conservatory, Belgium. He studied under ...
and David Craighead. By now she had married Aaron Johnson. In 1971 she earned her doctorate in piano at Northwestern, thereby becoming the first African American woman to do so.[PFA Career Achievement Award: Dr. Joyce Finch Johnson]
''Pan Pipes'', Sigma Alpha Iota Philanthropies, Inc., vol 104, No 1, Fall 2011[
In addition to a long academic career in the music department at Spelman, including serving for many years as chairperson, Johnson had a parallel career performing publicly on both piano and organ. She performs as both a soloist and accompanist, playing chamber music concerts, and performing with various symphony orchestras, and especially with the Spelman College Glee Club.][Joyce Johnson, DMus, Opening Festival Worship at Ebeneezer Baptist Church]
AGOatlanta2020, July 07, 2020: "She has been heralded as “pianist extraordinaire, astounding and thrilling audiences with her consummate artistry, formidable bravura technique, great sensitivity and impeccable artistry.”
She has become a role model for organists, especially as an inspiration for young black girls.
Organ alumnus takes daughter to acclaimed organist concert
' University of Florida Alumni News, Nov 16, 2017[
Since 1978 she has been a Member Laureate of ]Sigma Alpha Iota
Sigma Alpha Iota () is a women's music fraternity. Formed to "uphold the highest standards of music" and "to further the development of music in America and throughout the world", it continues to provide musical and educational resources to its m ...
International Music Fraternity.[
]
Awards
In 2014 she garnered the Professional Fraternity Association
The Professional Fraternity Association (PFA) is an American association of national, collegiate, professional fraternities and sororities that was formed in . Since PFA groups are discipline-specific, members join while pursuing graduate (law, me ...
(PFA) Career Achievement Award from Sigma Alpha Iota.[PFA Career Achievement Award: Dr. Joyce Finch Johnson]
''Pan Pipes'', Sigma Alpha Iota Philanthropies, Inc., vol 107, No 1, Fall 2014
In August 2020 Johnson was presented with the Edward A. Hansen Leadership Award by the American Guild of Organists
The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educati ...
(AGO).[Dr. Joyce Johnson Honored with Leadership Award From the American Guild of Organists]
Spelman College, August 2020
References
External links
''Vox Humana''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Joyce
American organists
1932 births
Living people
Fisk University alumni
People from Bowling Green, Kentucky