Tom Johnson, known for his minimalist compositions and writings about New York’s unique music scene, has passed away at 85 in Paris after suffering a stroke.
Born on November 18, 1939, in Greeley, Colorado, Tom was the child of educators and started playing the piano when he was seven. He graduated from Yale with degrees in arts and music before heading to New York in 1967 to learn from Morton Feldman. There, he also met John Cage who influenced his creative journey.
In the early ’70s, Tom began documenting the vibrant downtown music scene for the Village Voice. His weekly column featured artists like Steve Reich and Philip Glass and helped popularize “minimalism” as a term for their style. Known affectionately as Saint Tom among fellow composers, his articles were later collected into a book titled The Voice of New Music.
Tom’s compositions often drew inspiration from philosophers and mathematicians alongside other musicians. Works like “An Hour for Piano” and “The Four Note Opera” explored intriguing concepts of how music is made and performed. The latter became quite popular with over 100 productions since its creation.
Fans sometimes wonder if they should think deeply about what they’re listening to or just enjoy it as background sound.
After writing his last column in 1983, Tom moved to Paris where he continued creating books about his work and launched the YouTube series Illustrated Music. In 1986, he married Esther Ferrer following a previous marriage to Kathy Duncan. Reflecting on listening experiences in a Perfect Sound Forever interview from 2020: “Of course… listeners can just leave the music there in the background… It is more rewarding if one thinks a little about what one is hearing.”
