Grant Johannesen
Grant Johannesen (July 30, 1921 – March 27, 2005) was an American pianist. Biography Johannesen was born in Salt Lake City and discovered at the age of five by a teacher who lived across the street. He imitated whatever he heard her play, and she did not appreciate it. He studied with Robert Casadesus, Egon Petri, Roger Sessions, and Nadia Boulanger. He made his Manhattan recital debut when he was 23, and won the Concours International when he was 28. He toured extensively, both with the New York Philharmonic under Dmitri Mitropoulos, and as a solo performer. His performances in Moscow were especially well received. He was once encored 16 times. He was known as an interpreter of French piano music and recorded the complete piano works of Gabriel Fauré. He served as director of the Cleveland Institute of Music from 1974 to 1985. He was a frequent soloist with both the Cleveland Orchestra and the Utah Symphony. He was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of music degree from the Hartt School, University of Hartford in 1993. Johannesen was married to the Juilliard-trained composer Helen Taylor (whose works