Music of the Spheres, formed in 2000, is a newly-emerging early music group based in San Francisco and Atlanta. Its members are Baroque violinist Jeanne Johnson, Baroque cellist Joanna Blendulf, and harpsichordist Yuko Tanaka. Music of the Spheres was a main event at the 2002 Bloomington and Berkeley Early Music Festivals, resulting in several broadcasts on "Harmonia. "
We believe that music exists to captivate the imagination, stir memories, and evoke intensely personal emotions in both listener and performer alike, and we desire to bring a wider audience to classical music through performances which focus on these aspects. We enjoy giving lively, fun and informative performances, and are available for concerts, series, festivals, recordings and advanced master classes.
Jeanne Johnson, Baroque violin
Joanna Blendulf, Baroque cello
Yuko Tanaka, harpsichord
Jeanne Johnson is a soloist and chamber musician on both Baroque and modern violin. She is a winner of Early Music America's 2002 Professional Development Award for soloists.
Her performances on numerous series, tours, festivals and recordings in the United States and abroad have resulted in National Public Radio, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and local broadcasts. Jeanne has played with many groups including Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Apollo's Fire, Boston Baroque, Bloomington Baroque, the Carmel Bach Festival, the Bach Aria Festival, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the Berkeley and Bloomington Early Music Festivals.
She has served as concertmaster of the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra and as orchestra director, violin teacher and chamber music coach at Clayton College & State University in Atlanta. After starting violin at age 5, Jeanne made her solo debut with orchestra at 11 and won first place in the Milwaukee Symphony Youth Soloist Competition at 16.
She studied with James Buswell and Stanley Ritchie, receiving her bachelor's degree in performance with honors from Indiana University and her master's degree with distinction in performance and academics from New England Conservatory. Aside from early and classical music, Jeanne's interests include folk, crossover and world music. In addition to playing violin, Jeanne is also a writer, editor, painter and classical radio announcer.
Joanna Blendulf has diverse interests in music, performing a wide range of repertoire on both cello and viola da gamba. She has received performance degrees from both the Cleveland Institute of Music and Indiana University, where she studied with Stanley Ritchie, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and Alan Harris.
In 1998, Joanna was awarded the prestigious Performer's Certificate from Indiana University for outstanding performance in baroque cello. Spending much of her time in transit, she is currently performing with the Portland Baroque Orchestra, the New York Collegium, Apollo's Fire, American Bach Soloists, Musica Angelica and Camerata Pacifica Baroque (Santa Barbara).
Joanna is also an active chamber musician, performing with the all-female ensemble Bimbetta as well as Mirable and Florilegia, all based in the Bay Area where she resides. She was named honorable mention in the 2000 EMA/Dorian competition for her recording of the Jean Zewalt Triemer cello sonatas.
Joanna Blendulf also performs with Ensemble Mirable.
Yuko Tanaka, harpsichordist, is active as a soloist and an ensemble player. She has performed at the Carmel Bach Festival, Berkeley Festival and Exhibition, Bloomington Early Music Festival, and in broadcast events for National Public Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
She performs with numerous ensembles including Musica Pacifica, El Mundo, Ensemble...
