Dr. Kenneth Johnson is a dedicated trombonist and educator based in Green Bay, WI. He is the Adjunct Professor of Low Brass at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay and the Director of Instrumental and General Music at Notre Dame of De Pere. He founded and directed the Green Bay Low Brass Choir and is in his second year as Second Trombonist in Green Bay’s Weidner Philharmonic. He has been the Principal Trombonist in Sinfonia Gulf Coast in Destin, FL since 2017 and is a founding member of the Brass Institutes of America where he has served on the faculty since 2013. In the summer of 2024, he joined the Trombone faculty for the Blue Lakes Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lakes Michigan. As an active chamber musician, he has been a founding member of several groups including the Brass Institutes of America Brass Quintet, TallaBrassy, and Invicta Trio. The latter is a group devoted to inspiring, performing, and commissioning new music for its unique instrumentation: Trombone, Violin, and Piano, and has commissioned works from Frank Gulino, Chris Neiner, and Mikeila McQuestion.
He has performed throughout the country with groups such as the Louisville Orchestra, the Oshkosh Symphony Orchestra, the Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra, the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra, the Vice City Brass, the Columbus (IN) Philharmonic Brass Quintet, the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Tidewater Winds, the Albany (GA) Symphony Orchestra, and the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass. Before his move to Wisconsin, Kenneth was also the Principal Trombonist of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra and Bass Trombonist of the Gainesville Orchestra from 2018 to 2022, and Second Trombonist with the Sarasota Opera Orchestra for their 2022 Winter Season. As a commercial musician, he has shared the stage with the Hip Pocket Band, Steve Cooper and the Nobody Famous, Brass Differential, The B Street Brass Band, the Green Bay Jazz Orchestra, Manhattan Transfer, Mary Wilson, Rob Paulsen, Maurice LaMarche, Wu Man, the Doo Wop Project, Morgan James, Matthew Morrison, and in numerous shows at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg.
He has appeared as a soloist with the Blue Lake Faculty Wind Ensemble, the Ocala Symphony Orchestra, the Brass Institutes of America Faculty Ensemble, the West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra, and the Piedmont Symphony Orchestra. He has also given recitals and masterclasses at Old Dominion University, the University of Florida, Florida State University, the University of Mary Washington, the Lift Music Recital Fund, and the Thomasville Arts Series. He recently completed a Spring 2024 Recital Tour which saw performances at UW-OshKosh, UW- UW-Platteville, and Valdosta State University.
As a home studio recording artist, Kenneth has recorded for PlayBill with Seth Sikes, BIVA Broadcasts, as well as the podcasts: [insert movie here}: The Musical! and the award-winning Bite Sized Broadway. He also recorded the premier recordings of Eric Ziolek’s “Fragments” for solo trombone and Elias Tanenbaum’s “Coming Together” for violin and trombone as part of the American Composers Alliance “Shelter Music” initiative. Additionally, he can be heard on the Album “Earthling Sessions” and “The Unity Song” by San Diego-based rock band: Jackslacks. He has most recently recorded for the Concessions, a film by Mas Bouzidi.
In 2020 he completed his doctoral studies at Florida State University, where he was a Graduate Teaching Assistant for Dr. John Drew. His Doctoral treatise is titled: “Environmental Engagement in the Concert Hall: Programming Experiences, Teaching Activism” and was published the same year through Florida State University. He earned his Master’s degree in Trombone Performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with Peter Ellefson. In 2013, he graduated cum laude from West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education, where he studied with Dr. Keith Jackson and Dr. Brian Plitnik. He received additional instruction from Dr. Kevin Jones and Wayne Wallace at FSU and IU respectively. During his studies he was also a recipient of numerous awards and honors, and was a finalist in National and International competitions such as the 2016 International Trombone Association Alto Trombone Competition and the 2014 American Trombone Workshop National Tenor Trombone Solo Competition Division II. In 2017 he participated in the Alessi Seminar at Oregon State University as a member of the Fellow’s Class.
Kenneth and his wife, violinist Taylor Giorgio, enjoy discovering all that Green Bay has to offer with their dog Suki!