About:

Patrick Johnson is assistant professor of music theory at the Michigan State University College of Music.

Johnson utilizes his dual expertise as a concert pianist and a music theorist to engage his students artistically and intellectually, striving to enrich students’ aural and expressive understanding of music while helping them to analyze and to think critically about it. He was selected to be one of fifteen members of MSU’s 2016-17 Walter and Pauline Adams Academy for Instructional Excellence and Innovation. This annual program allows instructors to enhance their development as excellent teachers and deepen their understanding of principles in teaching and learning. He has also been the recipient of MSU’s Excellence-in-Teaching Citation (2013), awarded to six teaching assistants university-wide and the highest honor for instructors of that rank.

As a pianist, Johnson performs regularly throughout the Midwest as a solo, chamber, and orchestral pianist. Recent appearances include the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Lansing Symphony Orchestra’s chamber series, soloist with the Michigan Philharmonic in Detroit, and guest artist at Eastern Michigan University, where he also gave a masterclass. An avid orchestral musician, he is principal pianist for the Michigan Philharmonic and the Lansing Symphony Orchestra.

Johnson received a Bachelor of Musical Arts in piano performance, with high honors, from the University of Michigan. He holds a Master of Music degree in music theory, and both a Master of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from Michigan State University.