Press

“I’m pleased to report that it [Garden of Delights] was worth the wait.”
Wholenote Magazine

“Johnston has the rare ability to make a collective battery of percussion sing… Johnston’s virtuosity delivered a celebration of the percussion family, but always as a part of an effective, perceptible musical structure.”
Winnipeg Free Press

“…played with a subtlety that is not typical among percussionists.”
New York Times

“Critically, the high point of the evening was the dazzling frequently virtuosic performance by percussionist Beverley Johnston.”
Guelph Mercury

“The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra literally got its feet wet Saturday night with Chinese composer Tan Dun’s Water Concerto, for Water Percussion and Orchestra (1999), a unique work that takes the plunge into all things water… featuring Canadian percussion dynamo, Beverley Johnston… Johnston’s artistry and conviction – particularly during her two wild improvised cadenzas – in addition to a truly beautiful ending where she lifts a sieve of water to create a cascading waterfall made it one of the more memorable pieces heard this year.”
Winnipeg Free Press, 2008

“Evolving Elements by Hong Kong born composer Alice Ho was the audience favourite. Marimbist Beverley Johnston joined the Penderecki [string quartet] to create a sonically colourful extended ensemble”
The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo), 2005

“The third movement [of Pyrrichean Dances] with Johnston as main soloist, led off with a hauntingly romantic theme played on the musical saw against softly voiced triadic harmonies in the upper strings…”
The Chronicle Herald (Halifax), 2005

“Johnston also includes Etude in C Major by Clair Musser and Two Mexican Dances by Gordon Stout which are handled with grace and virtuosity… Johnston’s own Meditations showcase her skills as a vibraphonist.”
Percussive Notes, February 2005

“Other inhabitants of the bar included the brilliant percussionist Beverley Johnston, doubling as a bartender who turns her bottles into instruments.”
Toronto Star, September 2004

“Johnston’s “breakdown” done to a tap dancing/drumming is inspired innovation, and she shows a sparkling personality in her acting parts.”
The Globe & Mail, September 2004

“Give Her Percussion was the title of GroundSwell’s final concert of the season, and it was the most appropriate indeed as Canada’s pre-eminent percussionist Beverley Johnston was the guide through an evening of composition by Canadian women composers.
Winnipeg Free Press, June 2003

“What could have been a disaster for the Cornwall Concert Series on Saturday evening turned out to be a pleasant experience of magical proportions. One finger changed the programme – which makes one realize how precious the hands of a musician are. A distraught Sylvia Whitaker, Cornwall Concert Series organizer, explained to the audience how she felt upon finding out on Friday that one of the scheduled performers, flautist Susan Hoeppner, could not perform. She had broken a finger. But in the music world, the show must go on, and Ms. Whitaker’s woes quickly changed to jubilation, as the evening progressed. Beverley Johnston, an outstanding percussionist in her own right, graciously accepted to do a revised solo programme. The outcome was an evening of sheer delight and sound imagery“
Standard Freeholder, April 2003

“Johnston’s flashing hands darted over a large battery of percussion instruments as she alternately moved from one side of the stage to the other.”
Winnipeg Free Press, February 2003

“I think I speak for the audience by saying we were entranced watching Johnston in action. The cadenza on the drums was particularly riveting. Montreal-born Johnston’s mastery of her craft was apparent as she glided through the performance. Shouts of “Bravo!” accompanied applause at its end, which came all too soon”
The Hamilton Spectator, February 2003

“She was superb! Her sense of rhythm is knife-edged, and the weight of her sound as magnetic as the northern lode that guides our shipping.”
Chronicle-Herald, February 2002

“Johnston gave the crowd of about 50 children and their parents a crash course in the exotic instruments that percussionists have at their disposal. She rang bells and gongs, she shook rattles, she produced chimes and pings and she beat out frenzied rhythms on drums. When she asked for volunteers to try their hands at maracas and marimba, the children practically stepped over each other to join her. A percussionist will get them every time.”
Ottawa Citizen, July 2001

“After the interval we came to the Togni piece, scored for strings and percussion – and what percussion. Spread across almost the entire stage was an intriguing array of instruments, and there to play them was Beverley Johnston, the acclaimed percussionist.”
The Guelph Mercury, June 2001

“Then came Keiko Abe’s The Memories of the Seashore, an evocation of the sea on marimba. No cruel, crashing waves here, but the gently heaving bosom of the mother of all life drawn with ravishing beauty by the incredibly skillful Johnston.“
Hamilton Spectator, March 2000