He was a trumpeter and teacher born Gilbert Dwight Johnson who studied at the University of Hartford’s Julius Hartt School of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
Although having played Principal Trumpet with the New Orleans Philharmonic and the Florida Philharmonic and soloist with the Ballet Russa de Monte Carlo, he is best remembered as the solo trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1958 to 1975. He was also a member of the extremely successful Philadelphia Brass Ensemble, which was made up musicians from that orchestra and with them he would receive two Grammy Awards.
Having made over 800 solo recordings with the Philadelphia Orchestra alone, he appears with them on Risaager’s Concertino, Haydn’s Concerto for Trumpet and Handel’s Messiah, Debut! Mancini Conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra Pops and other recordings include Hindemith’s Sonata for Trumpet with Glenn Gould and the Grammy Award winning The Glorious Sound of Brass and The Antiphonal Music of Antonio Gabrieli with the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble.
In 1975 he moved into the field of musical education by joining the faculty of the University if Miami as Professor of Trumpet and stayed there for the rest of his life. He also gave regular masterclasses through the United States.
He died in Pinecrest, Florida, in 2002 of kidney cancer. He was 74 years of age.
Philadelphia Brass Ensemble recordings
Angels We Have Heard on High (Traditional French/James Chadwick/Edward Barnes)
CBS MK 7033 (CD: A Festival of Carols in Brass)
Here is the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble performing “Angels We Have Heard on High” from A Festival of Carols in Brass…
Sources:
- http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/gilbert-johnson-obituary?pid=1000000000483094&view=guestbook
- http://www.trumpetguild.org/news/news02/johnson.htm
- http://www.music.miami.edu/faculty/mip/johnson/johnson.html
- http://www.trumpetguild.org/conferences/conference99/friday/f14e.htm
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/833159-Gilbert-Johnson