Michael Blake in Conversation with Tom Johnson in 2018

Abstract

In the summer of 2011 Christine Lucia and I called on Tom Johnson at his home in Paris, and he invited us to two imminent events: the launch of Bernard Girard's Conversations avec Tom Johnson at the Cité de la Musique and an exhibition of his drawings at the Gallerie Lara Vinci. When I met Tom in October 2018 to interview him for the present publication, I began by asking him about his drawings and exhibitions, along with more recent compositions, including those where he has worked with jugglers. We also discussed all his music in greater depth and referred to other musicians as we proceeded. This ‘update’, therefore, does not simply follow on from 2011 to 2018, chronologically: it begins with Johnson imagining the categories his music might fall into, continues with a discussion of new work interrupted by two detours about other work, and ends with current and future work.