Matthew Johnson
Matthew Johnson is an American saxophonist and educator whose work spans solo, chamber, orchestral, and educational settings. He is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Saxophone Performance at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, where he serves as Manager and Production Coordinator for the Northwestern Contemporary Music Ensemble under the direction of Grammy–winning conductor Alan Pierson.
An active chamber musician, Matthew performs with the Synchrony Quartet and serves as their Director of Communications. They have won the Grand Prize in the Coltman Chamber Music Competition, first prize in the North American Saxophone Alliance Quartet Competition and the Music Teachers National Association Chamber Music Competition, and the Silver Medal in the Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition. They will soon be performing in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Later this year, the ensemble will be featured at Chamber Music America's annual conference, hold a week-long fellowship at the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival, and tour Southwest Florida after a featured performance with the Artists Series Concerts of Sarasota.
As a soloist, he has received distinctions in the MTNA Solo Competition and Jillian Prescott Competition, in which he was invited to be a featured soloist with the Southwest Florida Symphony. He has also performed with the Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Naples Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Winds of Southwest Florida, and Gulf Coast Symphony.
Equally dedicated to education and community engagement, Matthew has been on faculty at the Yamaha Music School, Canterbury School, Fort Myers, and served as a saxophone instructor and sectional coach for multiple middle and high school programs across Southwest Florida. He is a teacher and board member with the Music Foundation of Greater Naples, where he organizes events, leads grant projects, and mentors young musicians.
Matthew holds a bachelor’s degree in Saxophone Performance from Florida Gulf Coast University, with previous studies at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. His principal teachers include J. Michael Weiss-Holmes, Gary Louie, and Taimur Sullivan.
