Guy Johnston
Cello

Named BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2000, cellist Guy Johnston “has already forged a place as one of the country's most promising and distinctive cellists”, The Strad. During Guy’s early musical development, he won a number of awards, including the Shell/LSO Gerald Macdonald Prize, the Musicians Benevolent Fund Award and the Suggia Gift. In 2001 (at the age of 20), he became the youngest artist ever to open the Proms season at the Royal Albert Hall, performing Elgar's Cello Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Leonard Slatkin. In 2002, he was voted winner of the BRIT Award for Best British Newcomer for his recording of Karl Jenkins‚ Armed Man - Mass of Peace, on Virgin Classics.

Guy made his London debut in February 2001at the Barbican Hall, performing the Schumann Concerto with the English Chamber Orchestra and has since appeared with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Guy has also steadily been building his international reputation, recently performing with the Orchester der Hessischer Rundfunk, Lithuanian National Philharmonic and the Musikkollegium Winterthur, as well as touring to Japan and the Far East. Upcoming invitations include a UK tour with the St. Petersburg Academic Symphony Orchestra and engagements with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the Gavle Symphony Orchestra and the Deutsches Sinfonie Orchester and Deutschland Radio.

A committed recitalist and chamber musician, Guy is a member of the Aronowitz Ensemble, which has recently been invited onto the prestigious BBC New Generation Artists Scheme. Alongside collaborations with the Endellion and Szymanowski Quartets Guy performs at many festivals throughout the UK and abroad, including the Moritzburg, Delft, Cheltenham and City of London Festival, and he can regularly be heard on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. As a recitalist, upcoming and recent engagements include performances at Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall and the Louvre in Paris.