SANDPOINT — For passionate musicians, few accomplish the dream of hearing their music echo from the stage at Carnegie Hall in New York City, one of the most prestigious concert venues in the world.  

At ages 11 and 8, local sisters Charlie and Emerson Johnson were able to turn that dream into a reality when the pair was awarded the unforgettable opportunity to play their violins at the Weill Recital Hall on Memorial Day 2026.  

"When I was on stage, when I walked out, I was just enjoying it, smiling. And then, when I got to the last two measures, I was like ‘don’t get the long note out of tune, don’t do it.’ And then I nailed it. Just hearing the applause was just so magical and so fun,” 11-year-old Charlie Johnson said.  

The sisters performed solo acts on the stage as a reward for being part of the 2026 American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition winning class.    

“My favorite part of the whole Carnegie Hall experience was obviously performing. When I went out on stage, I was really nervous because I didn’t know if the audience was going to be a few people or totally sold out. But once I started playing, I just went into my mode,” 8-year-old Emerson Johnson said. “My favorite part after that was getting my plaque. You may think, ‘why was that my favorite part,’ but it told me that I earned that award, it wasn’t just because I won a competition, it was because I earned it.”  

Charlie performed the “Israeli Concertino” by George Perlman, a rich and expressive piece, and Emerson performed “Hungarian Dance No. 5” by Brahms, a piece known for its slow-fast two-part structure.  

The girls competed virtually against students from 19 countries to be awarded the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall, competing against musicians from the United States, Albania, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam. Winners were categorized into groups, with Charlie receiving third place and Emerson receiving honorable mention.  

When the girls submitted a video of themselves playing the violin, they were selected as part of the 2026 winning class in January. The pair were chosen to play at the concert venue on May 25, where they would perform before a full crowd in a room that seated 268 people.  

In that crowd were the girls' biggest supporters — with mom and dad, Cora and Curtis Johnson, grandma, and music teachers Ruth Klinginsmith and Marianne Wall flying from Idaho to watch the girls perform, and their 95-year-old great-grandma and great-aunt travelling from Pennsylvania to watch. 

“I was a little nervous, but once I saw the size of the room, I was good. It was a little smaller, so the audience was full,” Charlie said. 

The Johnson sisters, dubbed the Double Down Sisters by Charlie, have bigger ambitions than the Weill Recital Hall — performing at Carnegie Hall’s Perelman Stage, which seats 2,790.  

“Mom said that we should take pictures because we may not get to play at Carnegie Hall again, and I said, ‘What about my performance on Perelman Stage next year?’” Emerson confidently said. 

Music isn’t just an extra activity for the Johnson girls, but a passion.  

Charlie was introduced to the music scene at just 3 years old with a toddler music class and has been hooked on the violin since. When her teacher transitioned to start the Suzuki String Academy in Sandpoint, the Johnson girls were some of the first members in the academy. When Emerson was old enough, she joined her sister at 2 years old and noted that wearing pretty dresses was a contributing factor to her eagerness to learn the instruments.  

Despite their parents not having a musical bone in their bodies, according to their mom, Cora, the Johnson household works together to learn the different instruments — a tool the Suzuki String Academy believes will help the parents understand what their children are learning.  

“It’s been a learning journey for all of us, and the method they’re learning from, the Suzuki method, is all about the family, teacher and student triangle, so we can all be involved together. It’s really fun,” Cora Johnson said. “It gives you a whole new respect for what they’re going through, weird postures, all the different things.” 

Now, the pair travels and performs on multiple stages across the country, most notably for the Spokane Youth Symphony Program, and practices at multiple violin camps each year in Salt Lake City and at the Sun Valley Music Festival. The sisters each share their own handful of accomplishments, winning numerous awards for their talent at music fests and other symphony platforms.  

Charlie and Emerson are busy girls throughout the year, as they both write their own music too. And, when they’re not being homeschooled, the girls dabble with other musical instruments, and are participants of the swim team, 4-H clubs and Girl Scouts.  

For the Double Down Sisters, the Memorial Day performance wasn’t a peak in their career, but a glimpse in their future and the start of a much bigger dream.  

    Charlie Johnson performing “Israeli Concertino” by George Perlman at the Weill Recital Hall on Memorial Day 2026.