Rose, Johanna Marie

She is a vocalist, storyteller and teacher who was raised at Grand-View-on-Hudson, New York. She studied acting and took her musical education at the Manhattan School of Music. Becoming interested in the Renaissance and Medieval music she went on to take further studies in the performance of music from these ages at the Sarah Lawrence College.

In the mid 1980s she became a co-founder of the female a cappella ensemble Anonymous 4 who originally concentrated on early music, although have extended their repertoire since. She has made many recordings with them and some of these include American Angels, Legends of St. Nicholas: Medieval Chants & Polyphony, Noel Collection, On Yoolis Night, Star in the East and Wolcum Yule.

Aside from just performing with the ensemble she is also involved in commissions, adaptations, research, programming and language for their programmes. She has also worked as a host on a classical music programme on WNYC-FM and been a consultant editor for the NPR Listener’s Guide to Classical Music.

Recently she has been working in collaboration with the harpist Alyssa Reit on Sunflower Storyarts Festival, which happens in May 2009 and The Oak and the Ash, which will receive its premier performance in June 2009. Alongside all these projects she is also collaborating with the composer Kim Sherman on Shakespearean sonnets being set to music.

As a teacher she is on the faculty of the Westchester Conservatory, the Encore Music Studio, Musika and the Music and Art Academy as well as working from her own studio.

Anonymous 4 recordings
Awake and Join the Cheerful Choir (English Traditional)
Harmonia Mundi HMU 907325 (CD: Wolcum Yule)
Harp – Andrew Lawrence King

Here she is with Anonymous 4 performing “O Maria, O Felix Puerpera”…

Sources:

Rose, Johanna Marie

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