SALLY JOHNSON

1936 - 2015

JOHNSON--Sally Logemann.

Sally Logemann Johnson, one of the stars of the 1970s Medieval and Renaissance music revival, died in Manhattan November 30, 2015 of ovarian cancer. In the 1960s and 70s, as Sally Logemann, Ms. Johnson was a founding member of the Waverly Consort and founder and director of the New York Renaissance Band, appearing at New York's Lincoln Center and at concert halls and music festivals worldwide. Starting as a modern oboist, Sally eventually played over a dozen instruments, including baroque oboe, shawm, recorder, dulcian, krummhorn, rackett, bells, harp and drums. She recorded extensively for Columbia, Nonesuch and Arabesque. Her groups also performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, colleges and universities throughout the US and at The White House (a Shakespeare Birthday concert in 1983). Her foreign tours included most of South America, the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico and the Medeira Bach Festival. Born Sally Ann Elizabeth Bartel in Spokane WA, August 7, 1936, Sally was a musical prodigy, winning Major Bowes Amateur Hour on piano at age five. She graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle WA in 1954 and was immediately hired to play oboe and English horn for two years in the Vancouver (BC) Symphony. Sally attended the University of Washington then moved to New York with her first husband Joseph Golden, principal French horn for the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein, for whom he also played in the original production of West Side Story. Sally graduated from the Manhattan School of Music, then, after Joe's death from melanoma in 1960, joined the Master of Music program at New York University. There she began playing Medieval and Renaissance music, and, with fellow students, started the Waverly Consort (named for Waverly Place, site of the NYU music building). In 1972, she formed her own group, the New York Renaissance Band, with a dozen players, specializing in big-band Renaissance sound. After leaving music in the 1980s, Sally was a sales rep for United Airlines, computer specialist for CNA Insurance (she survived 9/11 in an underground vault on Wall St.) and realtor for Corcoran Group. She also sang backup for French pop outfits. Her survivors include Peter Johnson of NYC, her husband of 31 years, her son David Golden, daughter-in-law Janet Golden, and grandchildren Rebecca, Sarah and Noah Golden, all of Milford CT. Final arrangements are private. Please send memorial contributions to WPKN Radio, 244 University Avenue, Bridgeport CT 06604.