Dos Almas Music - Classical Guitar

Louis Valentine Johnson, guitarist and composer, has performed as a soloist and with orchestras in the U.S.A, South America, Mexico and Canada. A recording artist with four CDs and a fifth on the way Dos Almas Record Label. Louis Valentine Johnson’s recordings were reviewed by:

Carlos R. Alicea, BMG Records, New York City, who wrote:
"...rarely recorded works coupled with Louis Valentine Johnson's great playing."

Richard Middleton in Victory review, Seattle, WA, wrote:
"Johnson is a skilled and sensitive interpreter, not only of pieces by venerable masters…but also those by contemporary composers such as Jose Luis Merlin and Mark Radice…A beautiful album"

Maestro Ken Hardin, Conductor of Orchestra Panache recently wrote:
"Louis Valentine Johnson is a polished artist. He is creative in performances and continues to bring new works to the concert stage. It has always been a pleasure collaborating on our orchestral performances with Lou"

Louis Valentine Johnson tours and performs with composer Jose Luis Merlin of Spain (as “Duo Luis”). He also tours with the Reverend Dr. Thomas L. Purce.

Louis Valentine Johnson was recently honored by his Alma Mater, San Francisco State University, along with conductor Kent Nagano as a “distinguished Alumnus.”

Recent concert bookings include Washington D.C., Albuquerque, New Mexico, Seattle, Pullman, Chico, Sacramento, Fairfield, San Francisco, and the new Performing Arts Center at Idaho State University.

International performances include San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, Norway, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Banff, Canada, Quito Ecuador, Santiago Chile, and Argentina.

Radio and television credits include numerous Classical Broadcasts, including KQED in San Francisco, KWSP in Nevada City, KWSP in Santa Cruz, and other NPR stations.

Louis Valentine Johnson’s compositions were recently used as a Film Score documenting the life of Uruguayan Artist Radames Pera.

A fifth CD, “Spirits”, comprised solely of Louis Valentine Johnson’s compositions is scheduled for release soon. A fourth CD “Goodbye to Mexico”, received funding from “Meet the Composer,Inc” and was supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, ASCAP, and the Virgil Thomson Foundation. This recording features Johnson’s recently composed solo guitar suite, American Reflections, a composition consisting of four movements, Goodbye to Mexico, written in memory for those who die at the border between the U.S. and Mexico, each year. “Children Dancing”, is dedicated to Louis Valentine Johnson’s children Heidi and Alex. “Walking the Yuba River,”dedicated to Libby Zuniga, is a tribute to the peace and beauty of nature. “September Eleventh”, memorializes the human tragedy in Manhattan, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia.

Louis Valentine Johnson is a Veteran who served three years in the U.S. Army paratroops. He served as an infantry rifleman with the 101st airborne division in the war in Vietnam from 1965 to 1966. One of Louis Valentine Johnson’s “September Eleventh”, live performances has been included on Greg Watley’s 911 compilation CD All We Have to Offer.

Louis Valentine Johnson’s third CD, “The Blue Hour”, includes a piece dedicated to him by well-known New York composer, Mark A. Radice entitled, Tocatta, Evocation, and Fandango. Mark A. Radice recently composed Ricercari con du’interludi” for Louis Valentine Johnson and is scheduled to be released on a CD of composer Radice’s music in 2007.

Louis Valentine Johnson has also transcribed Tartini’s The Devil’s Trill, Corelli’s La Folia, and many other pieces for guitar, adding to the performance repertoire.

Louis Valentine Johnson is a graduate of Idaho State University with an undergraduate performance scholarship and a Bachelor of Music degree in guitar. He founded, and was head of the classical guitar program at the Idaho State University Music Department and was a faculty member there for for a number of years.

Louis Valentine Johnson was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree from Idaho State University in journalism.

Louis Valentine Johnson graduated with honors from San Francisco State University where he earned a Master of Arts degree in the Guitar Performance Program.

His Master class studies include classes with Narciso Yepes in San Francisco, Christopher Parkening , at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Sun Valley, Idaho, Abel Carlevaro, and Julian Bream at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco, and Alirio Diaz at the Banff School of Fine Arts in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Louis Valentine Johnson , born in Boise, Idaho, performs and records with a Jose Oribe “Gran Suprema” 664 cm cedar top, Brazilian rosewood concert classical guitar.

Louis Valentine Johnson is a faculty member and teaches guitar with his son Alex at Solid Rock School in Grass Valley, California.

Dos Almas Music
434 Colfax Ave.
Grass Valley, Ca 95945
(530)272-1583
www.dosalmas.com