Johnson, Thor
Johnson, Thor
Johnson, Thor, American conductor; b. Wisconsin Rapids, Wise, June 10, 1913; d. Nashville, Term., Jan. 16, 1975. He studied at the Univ. of N.C and later at the Univ. of Mich. (M.A., 1935), where he was founder and conductor of its Little Sym. Orch. (1934-36; 1938-42). He also took courses in conducting with Malko, Abendroth, Weingartner, and Walter in Europe (1936–37), and with Koussevitzky at the Berkshire Music Center in Tangle-wood (summers, 1940-41). He was conductor of the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Sym. Orch. (1940–42); subsequently enlisted in the U.S. Army (1942), and conducted the First Army Sym. Orch. in Fort Myers, Va.; subsequently conducted the Juilliard School of Music orch. in N.Y. (1946–47). From 1947 to 1958 he was music director of the Cincinnati Sym. Orch., one of the first native-born Americans to hold such a position with a major U.S. orch. From 1958 to 1964 he was a prof, and director of orchestral activities at Northwestern Univ. in Chicago, and from 1964 to 1967 was director of the Inter lochen Arts Academy He was music director of the Nashville (Term.) Sym. Orch. from 1967 until his death.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire