Mark Johnson

ABOUT

Mark Johnson retired in 2012 as Professor of Music and Music Literature in the College of Music and as Professor in the Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities. He received two music degrees from the University of Illinois and joined the MSU faculty in 1972. He was head of the percussion program and director of the Percussion Ensemble for 25 years and has more than 50 years of professional orchestral experience as percussionist/timpanist with groups such as the San Antonio Symphony, the Santa Fe Opera, the Lansing Symphony, and numerous community orchestras in Texas, Illinois, and Michigan. He has also performed throughout Europe, Africa, and South America. Professor Johnson has participated as percussionist, conductor, and orchestral musician in a number of radio and television broadcasts, including several productions of the WKAR-TV “Artistry of …” series and “Music from Michigan State,” as well as concerts broadcast by the BBC, PBS, WNET, and WFMT. He recorded for the New World, Albany, and Gate-5 Records labels. Johnson is the author and editor of Marimba Solos and Etudes.