Helen Taylor Johannesen (August 24, 1915—October 5, 1950) was an American composer.Helen Taylor, who died tragically in 1950, was a gifted and promising Juilliard-trained composer and the wife of pianist Grant Johannesen.aylor grew up in Salt Lake City. She studied piano at the McCune School of Music. She received her BM from the University of Utah in 1937, her MM from Columbia Teachers College in 1941, and her degree in composition from Juilliard in 1945, where she completed a three-movement symphony. She worked at the Martha Graham Dance Company as a composition pianist and worked with Aaron Copland on "Appalachian Spring." In this role, she honed her skills as an improviser. In 1948, her violin sonata was recognized with a National Association of Composers and Conductors Award.