Dennis Johnson

Dennis L. Johnson is presently the Director of Bands and Symphony Orchestra at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky.  At Murray State he conducts the Chamber Winds, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, the University Symphony Orchestra and the pit orchestra for the operas and musicals.  He instructs classes in “Basic” and “Instrumental Conducting” plus the graduate sections of “Advanced Instrumental Conducting”. Additionally he serves as Past President of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE). 

Under Professor Johnson’s leadership the Murray State University Wind Ensemble has made several prestigious appearances including two special invitational concerts in Carnegie Hall; two appearances at the College Band Directors National Association Conventions and at the International Wind Band Conference in Manchester, England.  In the Spring of 2011 the MSU Symphony Orchestra appeared in Chicago’s famed Orchestra Hall and in a KET/PBS television documentary surrounding the appearance.

In 2003 he was inducted into the “American Bandmasters Association” and has served as Kentucky State Chairman for the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) and state collegiate representative for the Kentucky Music Educator’s Association (KMEA).

In the summer of 2017, Professor Johnson presented two clinics on “Conducting” for the WASBE Conference in Utrecht, The Netherlands. He also serves as Clinician and Music Director for the World Projects Washington DC Festival and as emcee and clinician for their annual Chicago Festival. Additionally, he has served as clinician for World Project festivals in Sydney, Australia; Disney Hall in California; Honolulu, Hawaii; Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, and New York’s Carnegie Hall.  In December 2014, he guest conducted the Sydney Youth Wind Orchestra (from Sydney, Australia) in concert during the Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago, IL.  Professor Johnson has also guest conducted the Air Self-Defense Force Band of Japan and the Australian Youth Honors Wind Band in Brisbane. In the summer of 2013, he served four weeks on the “jury” for the World Music Contest in Kerkrade, The Netherlands.  Professor Johnson has accepted numerous invitations to conduct honor bands, orchestras, professional bands and conducting clinics in Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, England, Israel, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Hungary, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, and in most states throughout the U.S.  He is presently listed in the prestigious Marquis’ “Who’s Who” and the Cambridge “Dictionary of International Biography”.