03/09/2022
Magnificent!
Today we will honor a Spelman treasure and icon on campus for Women's Herstory Month. Professor emerita of music, Spelman College organist, a faculty member since 1953, and former chair of the Department of Music from 1989 - 1994 and 1995-2001, Dr. Joyce Finch Johnson, AAGO.
As a child prodigy, having received her earliest musical training from her mother, young Joyce performed at her first concert at age eleven. She later studied piano under William Duncan Allen at Fisk University, Beryl Rubinstein at the Cleveland Institute of Music just to name a few. Dr. Johnson earned her Master of Music degree and the Doctor of Music in Piano Performance. She studied organ with Richard Enright and Karel Paukert at Northwestern, and David Craighead at the Eastman School of Music. After college, performance opportunities increased to include chamber music, collaborations with distinguished artists, and guest solo appearances with symphony orchestras. In 1989, through a rigorous certification examination, she became an Associate of the American Guild of Organists (AAGO).
Shortly after his death on April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s body was brought to back to Atlanta. Thousands of mourners from around the world filed into Sisters Chapel on the campus of Spelman College to pay their final respects to the slain civil right leader as he was lying in state on April 8, 1968. For two days, the woman who played the organ for those weary souls was Dr. Joyce Johnson. In several interviews, Dr. Johnson mentioned that it was not difficult for her to choose music for such a somber occasion and that she choose quiet, reflective music, may be a few spirituals.
For decades, she has been the organist for the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Ecumenical Service at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Thank you Dr. Johnson for your love of music and dedication to Spelman College.
