Andrew Balio

Orchestral trumpeter Andrew Balio has been principal of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since his appointment to the position by Yuri Temirkanov in 2001. For the 2014-15 season, he was also principal of the Oslo Philharmonic under the baton of Vasily Petrenko. From 1990 to 1993, he served as principal of the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico; and in 1993, Zubin Mehta appointed him principal of the Israel Philharmonic, where he stayed through 2001. The 1999-2000 season had him serving additionally as principal of the Bergen Philharmonic and took a recent season as principal trumpet of the Oslo Philharmonic.

This past summer, during the BSO lock-out, he subbed as principal of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia for three weeks. Balio has been a frequent soloist since his earliest days as a student, having made his debut at the age of 15 playing Haydn’s Concerto with the Milwaukee Symphony in his home state of Wisconsin. Over the years, he has appeared as soloist with various orchestras in Europe, the US, South America. His Carnegie Hall solo debut, an important milestone, came in 2013 in the company of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and Maestro Constantine Orbelian. He also was soloist with the Oslo Philharmonic’s recent release of Scriabin’s Le Poéme de l’Extase. Most recently, he recorded a two CD set for Delos of his own transcription of music by J.S Bach for organ, recorded at the University of Notre Dame.

Andrew serves on the board of trustees of the Academy of Philosophy and Letters. Andrew is a Yamaha artist.

Lura Johnson

Resident Keyboardist

Hailed as “brilliant” by the Washington Post, Pianist Lura Johnson is a Steinway Artist celebrated for her passionate and insightful interpretations of the standard repertoire and esteemed by colleagues for her uncommon sensitivity and skill as a collaborative partner. Equally comfortable as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician, she is the Principal Pianist of the Delaware Symphony and has performed extensively as the pianist of choice for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, at the pleasure of Marin Alsop, since 2007. Trained by luminaries Robert McDonald and Leon Fleisher, Ms. Johnson's extensive orchestral collaborators include Pinchas Zukerman, Yo Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Midori, Leila Josefowicz, Augustin Hadelich, Joshua Bell, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and the St. Lawrence String Quartet. Ms. Johnson has also performed as soloist with the Baltimore and Delaware Symphonies, performing Rachmaninoff's First Piano Concerto, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, and the complete Bach Brandenburg Concerti multiple times.

Devoted to chamber music from an early age, her many recital partners include Baltimore Symphony concertmaster Jonathan Carney, with whom she has presented the complete Brahms violin sonata cycle, clarinetist Anthony McGill, cellists Ilya Finkelshteyn, Amit Peled and Kenneth Slowik, and flutist Marina Piccinini. She is a founding member of three duos, the Jennings-Johnson Duo with flutist Christina Jennings, Times Two with violinist Netanel Draiblate, and Duo Lalu, a cabaret duo with soprano Lara Bruckmann. She performs with VERGE Ensemble, 21st Century Consort, PostClassical Ensemble, and the Towson New Music Ensemble.

Ms. Johnson has taught piano at the Peabody Conservatory since 2002 and from 2013-2015 was Director of Chamber Music at Georgetown University in Washington. She has taught on the faculty of the Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop and the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music.

Formerly the Artistic Director of Baltimore chamber music series Music in the Great Hall, Lura has also worked as Pianist and General Manager with the PostClassical Ensemble in Washington, DC, an innovative and wildly ambitious chamber orchestra that is reinventing and reinvigorating the presentation of classical music with programming that is thematic and cross-discliplinary.

Lura holds degrees from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where she was a student of Brian Connelly. Early studies were pursued under the direction of Jeanne Kierman Fischer in Lura’s hometown of Oberlin, Ohio. Lura’s very first piano lessons were with her father, Dale Johnson, an amateur pianist and professor of East Asian Studies at Oberlin College.

When not onstage, Lura can be found on the dance floor. She is an avid social and competitive dancer with roots in gymnastics, ballet, and ballroom, specializing now in West Coast Swing.

For more information, visit www.lurajohnson.com.