Johnson, Bradley

Biography

As a Central Michigan University alum, Dr. Bradley Johnson is excited to have the opportunity to work directly with the CMU community. Johnson is an advocate of new music and diversity, having commissioned and premiered numerous works by composers from underrepresented communities. Johnson previously held an academic position as Adjunct Instructor of Bassoon at Northern Arizona University, where he co-hosted the 2024 International Double Reed Society
(IDRS) conference. He was also a member of the 2025 IDRS Conference Artistic Committee which ensures equal opportunity and representation among performers, presenters, and programmed music at the conference.

Johnson has an active performance career, having regularly performed with the Scottsdale Philharmonic, Flagstaff Symphony, and The Phoenix Symphony. He has been a featured artist and lecturer at conferences such as IDRS, the Meg Quigley Symposium and the international Clarinet Association (ICA) ClarinetFest. Johnson was also accepted to participate in the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra, a three week festival in Lucerne, Switzerland that focuses on contemporary orchestral and chamber repertoire. While there, he worked with world renown musicians such as Enno Poppe, Susanna Mälkki, Ilan Volkov, Johannes Schwarz and Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson.

Johnson has a love of chamber music and is a co-founder of the Arcane Reed Quintet (ARQ) that focuses on outreach and diversifying the reed quintet repertoire. ARQ has performed at the Coltman and Fischoff chamber music competitions, the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest, and the 2024 IDRS conference.

Dr. Johnson holds degrees from Arizona State University (DMA), Ithaca College (MM), and Central Michigan University (BM). He also received a certificate in East Asian cultural studies while at Central Michigan University.