Barbara Johnston, Principal Cello

Barbara Johnston has appeared frequently as a soloist with numerous orchestras in the Northwest. Her solo appearances with the Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Concertante Chamber Orchestra, the Newport Symphony, Willamette Falls Symphony and the Cascade Symphony, have included works by Schumann, Elgar, Bloch, Creston, Boccherini, Moor, Vivaldi, Faure, Saint-Saens, Haydn and Richard Strauss.

Barbara studied music at Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley and the Guildhall School in London. Among her teachers were Colin Hampton, William Pleeth of London's Allegri Quartet, and Raymond Davis, principal cellist of the Seattle Symphony. She has played with the Oregon Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Opera and Oregon Ballet Theater.

In addition to her work as principal cellist with the Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra, she is a founding member and principal cellist of both the Newport Symphony, and Sinfonia Concertante Chamber Orchestra in Portland.

Barbara lives in Scappoose with her husband, Craig, the principal tympanist of the Portland Columbia Symphony. She recently retired from her law practice in Hillsboro, and hopes to devote additional time to chamber music, as well as sailing, gardening, traveling and new educational pursuits.