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Marc Johnson was born to a musical family in Lincoln, Nebraska. Under the tutelage of his first teacher Carol Work, he won several national competitions and was accepted as a scholarship student at the Eastman School of Music. While there, he studied with Ronald Leonard and John Celentano. He continued his studies at Indiana University where he was a student of Janos Starker and Josef Gingold.
Mr. Johnson began his professional career while still a student. At the age of eighteen he became the youngest member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and played in that orchestra for four seasons. He has also been a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He continued to have success in competitions, winning first prize in the prestigious Washington International Competition, among others.
For thirty-five years, Mr. Johnson performed as the cellist of the renowned Vermeer Quartet. The Quartet appeared regularly in the world's musical capitals on five continents, and made extensive tours yearly in Europe and North America. Their recordings gathered critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, and include a version of the complete Beethoven string quartets on the Teldec label. The Quartet can also be heard on the Alden, Cedille, Orfeo, and Naxos labels. They received three Grammy nominations; one for Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ, another for their recording of the Shostakovich and Schnittke Piano Quintets, and a third for the complete quartets of Bela Bartok. They appeared regularly at the world's great music festivals, and held residency positions with Northern Illinois University, Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport, Maine, and The Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England.
Mr. Johnson continues to pursue an active career since the quartet’s retirement in 2007, appearing in recital, and as soloist with orchestras in North America and Europe, and is a frequent presenter of master classes here and abroad. He and his wife, the pianist Katherine Johnson are co-directors of Bay Chamber Concerts, the Next Generation, a series of free chamber music seminars for students from the state of Maine. He has been active in the commissioning of new works for both cello and string quartet, and has recorded for CRI Records. He joined the faculty of Boston University in September, 2007. His cello is a fine, old Italian instrument made c. 1730 by Francesco Stradivarius.
Both of Mr. Johnson's children are musicians. Nicole is the cellist of the Cassatt Quartet in New York, and Kirsten is the Associate Principle Violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He lives in Cushing, Maine with his wife, two absurdly large dogs, and a sarcastic parrot.
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