Guy Johnston

Career

At age eight, Johnston became a chorister at King's College, Cambridge, while also playing the cello. He attended Chetham's School of Music, Manchester from 1996 to 1999, studying under Steven Doane, before going to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He came to prominence after winning the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 2000, where he broke a string playing Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1. The following year he made his concerto debut at The Proms performing Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto with Leonard Slatkin and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

He was named 'Young British Classical Performer' of the year at the 2002 Classic Brit Awards. Johnston has performed concertos with leading British orchestras including the London Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, the Philharmonia, English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Northern Sinfonia, and in Europe, the Middle and Far East with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchester der Hessischer Rundfunk and Musikkollegium Winterthur.

His performances and recordings are regularly broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. He was a founding member of the Aronowitz Ensemble, which was invited into the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme for 2006–2008. In August 2016, Johnston performed the world premiere of Charlotte Bray's cello concerto Falling in the Fire at The Proms. He recorded David Matthews' Concerto in Azzurro with Rumon Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, released on the Chandos label in 2009; the recording was nominated for a Gramophone Award in the Contemporary Music category.

Recording work

He released his debut recital disc Milo in May 2010 on the Orchid label with pianist Kathryn Stott, comprising British 20th-century music including the Cello Sonatas by Benjamin Britten and Frank Bridge and works 'Sleep On' and 'Milo' by Mark-Anthony Turnage. Turnage wrote 'Milo' for the christening of his son; Johnston premiered the work at Milo's christening and is his godfather.

Personal life

Johnston was born to a musical family. His parents David and Gill run Musicale, a music school and instrument retailer in Harpenden. He has two brothers, Magnus and Rupert, and a younger sister Brittany 'Izzy'.

All three brothers were choristers at King's College Chapel, Cambridge and educated at its affiliated school. Magnus is a violinist and chamber musician married to Dutch violinist Marije Ploemacher. Izzy was a member of the electronic string quartet Escala and is married to McFly drummer Harry Judd.

Rupert, who plays the French horn, sustained a serious brain injury in a car accident in 1997, as an eighteen-year-old student at Guildhall. As a result, Johnston, his siblings, and Judd have supported the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust (Brainkind) through their charity work. Johnston married economic historian Ali Digby at her family home, Minterne House, Dorset, in May 2018.