Johnson to step down from Great Falls Symphony post

Gordon Johnson, the dean of symphony music directors in Montana, will step down in 2017, he announced this week.

“Next year is my final year,” Johnson told the Tribune. He has spent 35 years conducting the Great Falls Symphony Orchestra, a period of growth and expansion.

“To me, it’s astounding,” Johnson said, noting most music directors spend less than a decade in one place. “It’s highly, highly unusual for an American orchestra to have a music director for this long.”

The atmosphere in Great Falls has been electric.

“I love it,” Johnson said. “I like the people. That’s been the greatest pleasure.” Working with such talented, dedicated and committed people has been rewarding, the Minnesota native said.

“It’s just been very stimulating for me,” Johnson said.

During Johnson’s tenure, the Great Falls orchestra has featured remarkable guest artists including violinists Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell and Midori; cellist Yo-Yo Ma; flutist James Galway; and percussionist Evalyn Glennie.

And Johnson has been able to perform in the Mansfield auditorium in the Civic Center, which features superior acoustics. He has worked with talented musicians and been impressed by “the amazing can-do attitude of the people of this community,” he said.

Johnson said highlights include attracting world-renowned artists to play in Great Falls; creating a youth orchestra, launching smaller professional performing groups such as the Cascade Quartet and the Chinook Winds, and working with the 100-strong Symphonic Choir.

“It’s been just an outstanding place to work,” Johnson said. “Thirty-five years just flew by.”

The Great Falls Symphony Association soon will begin the process of finding a new music director, a move that could pay off, Johnson said.

“The organization could benefit and actually thrive from a fresh approach,” he said.

Johnson said he is not retiring from the music business. He wants to try some different things.

“My plan is to be active,” he said. A Tribune Spray of the Falls column Monday noted Johnson’s work in December conducting a British orchestra at the famed Abbey Road recording studios. He plans to be a consultant when he steps down in the middle of next year.

“There are orchestras around the country that I’ve built personal relationships with,” he said.

Johnson said some of the concerts before he steps down will feature prospective music directors vying to succeed him. He added he did not want to leave the post at the same time as Carolyn Valacich, the longtime association executive director who retired recently.

Sue Ann Stephenson-Love, president of the symphony association board, said the group appreciated Johnson giving notice far in advance so a replacement can be found.

“Gordon’s exceptional,” she said Thursday. “You see his gifts and talents in action. He’s brought our symphony right on up to the top.”

Behind the scenes, “he’s a real team player,” Stephenson-Love added.

“It’s been such an enjoyable partnership through the years,” said Valacich, who took her position in 1987. Johnson arrived in 1981.

“He has become an icon in this community,” Valacich said of Johnson.

One of Johnson’s skills is flexibility.

“He has the capacity to adapt to different situations,” she said.

As every conductor tends to be, “he is very definitely a taskmaster,” Valacich said. “He is in control and everyone respects him, and they respect what he is telling them.”

At the same time, Johnson was willing to hear new ideas and suggestions and to engage with area residents.

“In the community, no one can be more congenial,” Valacich said.

Reach Ecke at 406-791-1465 or email him at recke@greatfallstribune.com.