Johannes Moller, the European Guitarist and Composer
Johannes Möller has captivated audiences throughout the world with charismatic and soulful performances. In 2010 he was awarded first prize in the GFA Concert Artist Competition, considered by many to be the most prestigious guitar competition in the world. As a performer, Johannes’s artistry has reached well beyond the usual guitar circles. This was confirmed in March 2008 when he won the Dutch Vriendenkrans Concours while competing against performers in all instrumental categories. As a part of this award his name has been engraved on a metal plate that can be seen in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Pure Talent
Johannes Möller was born in Stockholm, Sweden, November 29 1981. At the age of 12 as a self-taught composer Johannes experienced an outburst of creativity that resulted in a large quantity of mainly chamber music works for various instrumentations. A selection of these works was recorded on a CD with some of the top instrumentalists in Sweden when he was 14 years old. A critic from the Swedish newspaper Göteborgsposten wrote about these compositions, ”What is to become of Johannes Möller? A Swedish Mozart – in our time?”
“Two chords on the guitar and you are caught.”
In his later teenage years, Johannes continued composing experimenting with various compositional styles and techniques. It was however not until he composed his piece “When the Winds Dissolve” for alto flute and guitar in 2006 that he found his personal voice. The world premiere of this composition took place during the “Iserlohn International Guitar Symposium”. It was received with such enthusiasm from colleges and students alike that he decided to dedicate himself to mainly compose music for the guitar. In 2009, he won a “European Guitar Award” for his guitar solo composition and in October 2010, a CD was released of Johannes performing his own music.
Education Background
Johannes has earned a Bachelor of Music with Honors from the Royal College of Music in London where he studied guitar with Gary Ryan and Carlos Bonell and composition with William Mival. He has received a Masters degree from the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague where he studied with Zoran Dukic. He also received a scholarship for excellent students from the Royal Conservatoire that allowed him to study privately with Pavel Steidl in Czech Republic as well as composition lessons with Dusan Bogdanovic in the USA. He completed a second Masters degree at the Conservatoire in Amsterdam where he studied guitar with Lex Eisenhardt and composition with Richard Ayres.
Conservatorium Van Amsterdam
In September 2016 Johannes Möller took on the position of head of classical guitar studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Johannes has been already involved with working with students at the conservatory since late 2015 and looking forward to be involved more.
Johannes Möller in China
As the endorsor of MARTINEZ Guitar, Johannes completed a tour of 13 cites in China in June 2015. During this trip that took him wide across the country he wrote a collection of musical compositions called “Five Chinese Impressions”. These pieces are published at Dobermann-Yppan in April 2016.
Awards
• 1st prize the GFA International Concert Artist Competition, Austin, Texas, June 2010
• European Guitar Award 2009
• Vriendenkrans award, Netherlands 2008
• 1st prize the Ljunggrenska competition, Sweden 2007
• 1st prize Bromsgrove International Young Musicians Platform, England, 2005
• 3rd prize Iserlohn International Guitar Competition, Germany, 2004
• 3rd prize Sernancelle International Guitar Competition, Portugal, 2004
• 3rd prize Sinaia International Guitar Competition, Romania, 2002
• 1st prize Gevelsberg International Guitar Competition, Germany, 2002
• 2nd prize Admira Young Guitarist of the Year, England, 2001