Pianist Christopher Johnson to play at All Souls Congregational Church

Christopher Johnson has a shy voice on the phone. He is pleasant. He is mannerly. But there is also a hesitation and carefulness. From his apartment in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of New York City, he talks about the first time he came to Maine in 1996 to perform as a soloist at the Bar Harbor Music Festival. Back then, everyone referred to him as a “young American pianist” because he was in his early 20s. Now, at 27, he says he no longer qualifies to be called young. In the competitive field of music, that is probably true. But the voice: It is still young. “Maine was a wonderful experience,” Johnson says. He leaves it at that.

There is more, of course. Maine thought Johnson was wonderful, too. That first concert featured works by Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Chopin and Mozart – and the audiences were wooed. The next summer, Johnson returned as artist-in-residence at the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestra Musicians in Hancock. That year, he worked on Prokofiev’s third piano concerto. “That was tough for everyone involved,” he says. But the work, he adds, was fulfilling and exciting, and, unsurprisingly, he became smitten with the natural beauty around him.

In the years that have passed, Johnson has returned many times to Maine, most recently this summer when he played at both the Bar Harbor and Monteux festivals, as well as during informal “walk-in” concerts at a diner in Ellsworth. He is back in New York now, teaching a handful of private piano students and finishing doctoral work at the Manhattan School of Music. Since the “young” days, Johnson has had his Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center debuts, won a slew of awards and played at President Bush’s inauguration.

On Sunday, Johnson will return to Maine to perform a solo concert including works by Beethoven, Chopin, Barber and Gershwin at All Souls Congregational Church in Bangor.

“To witness a piano performance by Christopher Johnson is like observing passion incarnate,” a reviewer in New Jersey wrote last winter after one of the 30 or so concerts Johnson presents each year.

That same passion caught the eye – and ear – of Ellsworth summer resident Bud DiFluri nearly 20 years ago in New Jersey where Johnson grew up. DiFluri was interviewing Johnson’s father, a building contractor, and in the background heard the 10-year-old boy practicing on the piano.

“While I was waiting, I heard beautiful music that I thought was coming from a radio,” said DiFluri, who is also a musician. “But it wasn’t the radio. It was Christopher.” At the time, DiFluri was artist relations manager at Yamaha Corporation of America and had solid contacts in the music world. Call me, he told the 10-year- old, because when I retire, I will help you.

Years later, when Johnson was at The Juilliard School, he did call DiFluri, who was by that time retired and had the time to assist in helping to spark the career of a young American pianist. “If he didn’t have the talent he has, he wouldn’t have gotten this far,” said DiFluri, who splits his time between Maine and New Jersey.

Because of his relationship with DiFluri, Johnson calls Maine “a second home,” and he intends to continue a performance schedule here. In recent months, there has even been some discussion of collaborations in the future with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra.

As with all his concerts, he hopes the audience in Bangor will respond openly and happily to the music he plays. It is clear from the lilt in his voice as he talks about the pieces for Sunday’s concert, that music is the topic from which he springs outward with words such as “beauty,” “divine” and “smiles.” He knows the audience will “smile,” he says, when he plays Barber’s “Hesitation Tango.” He wants them to be caught in the memorable melodic material of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and the salvation of Beethoven’s “Waldstein” sonata.

“I want them to be fulfilled,” Johnson says with alacrity. “I want them to enjoy themselves.”

Christopher Johnson will perform 2 p.m. Sept. 16 at All Soul’s Congregational Church in Bangor.