Johana Harris

Johana Harris was a Canadian pianist and composer who was born as Mary Beula Aleta Duffey in 1912. She achieved early professional recognition as a child prodigy, performing under the monicker “Ottawa’s Wonder Child Pianiste” in 1925. She studied under Ernest Hutcheson at the Juilliard School, where she was appointed as the youngest faculty member in the institution's history at age 17. Following her marriage to the composer Roy Harris in 1936, she adopted the name Johana and became a prominent interpreter of his work. Harris performed widely as a soloist with major American orchestras and recorded over 100 solo albums for labels including Columbia, RCA, and Capitol Records. Her discography includes her performance on the recording Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 22 (1952), which was dedicated to her by Alberto Ginastera. She died in 1995.