My former college choir director, UVU's Professor Gene Lawrence (Larry) Johnson, passed away on July 8, 2011, due to complications following a liver transplant.
Preferring his students to address him simply as "Larry," he was an easy-going guy with a good sense of humor. On a particularly rowdy day in class among the choiristers, Larry became very frustrated with the choir's inability to remain quiet and listen to instruction. His voice cut through the no...ise with "DANG IT ALL TO HECK!" - The room fell silent. As everyone attentively stared at him, he began to laugh at himself over his outburst. He offered a brief explaination/apology, and we all moved on with class, better behaved.
He truly LOVED the music and had an INCREDIBLE ear for it. I'll never forget the rehearsal when I was the only one who was actually able to hit the "low C" written in the bass line of the Russian piece we were working on. Obviously I wasn't able to project the note loudly, but HE HEARD IT! Right after he cut us off at the end of the piece he excitedly asked, "Who was that?" I doubt many other people heard the note, but Larry did, and that made me feel like a million dollars that day. :) Thank you, Larry, for sharing your talents and your passion with me and so many others.
Larry's Tribute Page on Facebook can be found here.
Larry's obituary can be read here.
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