"FAMILIAR NAMES, FRESH FACES"

Report by Joanne Talbot

According to the Strad's review of the inaugural concert of the Violoncello Society of London last November, Guy Johnston 'stole the show' - it's a verdict that's increasingly heard in connection with his work.

Johnston became an instant household name in 2000 when he won BBC Young Musician of the Year, and a host of prestigious concert engagements followed. He sensibly chose to combine his burgeoning solo career with continued studies at the Eastman School of Music in New York, however, 'It was an incredibly difficult period,' he recounts. 'I would be away doing a professional engagement and then the next day I would have to get an assignment ready, and be at an orchestral rehearsal. But it certainly kept me down to earth.'

Johnston lists among his influences his teacher Steven Doane, Steven Isserlis and David Waterman - 'all of whom studied with Jane Cowan. They all have a unique sound world, and I'm really drawn to this. Doane has always been adamant about being subservient to the music and doing precisely what is written on the page - a concept which Stephen Cleobury also instilled in me when I was a chorister at King's College Cambridge as a child.'

Still busy establishing the standard repertoire, this year Johnston will be focusing on the Dvorak concerto and Strauss's Don Quixote. An impressive roster of forthcoming concerts includes appearances in Paris, Amsterdam, Japan, London and Manchester. Yet despite this success Johnston is determined to keep learning. 'I aim to be so totally in command technically that I can always put the music first,' he says - an objective that by most people's standards is already pretty much in place.