Faculty Name
Kevin Johnson, DMA
Title
Associate Professor, Glee Club Director
Department
Music
Phone
404-270-5480
Office Location
Milligan 2303C
Education
DMA, University of Missouri, KansasM.A., B.A., California State University, Los Angeles
Biography
Kevin Johnson, DMA, associate professor of music at Spelman College, is a renowned musician, composer and active clinician. He has traveled throughout the United States and Europe providing choral workshops, master classes, seminars and retreats for music educators and churches. He is currently the Minister of Music at The Catholic Church of St. Gabriel in Fayetteville, Georgia. His works have resulted
in performances for church and school choruses, all-state choral festivals, Catholic Archdioceses nationwide, as well as international performances with the Spelman College Glee Club. In March 2016, Dr. Johnson led the Glee Club in a performance for President Barack Obama at the White House and completed a 2019 performance with the Glee Club in Lisbon, Portugal.
Dr. Johnson is an active composer, frequently writing for Catholic worship. He provides an extensive catalog, including seven mass settings, more than 300 psalm settings and many sacred songs. In 2013, he completed his second compact disc recording for Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Atlanta entitled, “Reap a Harvest in Due Season: A Treasury of African American Catholic Music.” This work includes his nine compositions and other favorite songs of the church. Under his direction, the Glee Club has recorded six compact disc recordings and more than 20 recordings of the Spelman-Morehouse
Christmas Carol concert, which celebrated its 93rd anniversary in December 2019.
As a professional composer, Dr. Johnson has been commissioned to compose several works, including "A Choice to Change the World" and "We Are Christmas” (commissioned by Spelman), "The Mass of Faith" (commissioned by Father John Adamski), “The Preacher’s Mass” (commissioned by the Dominican Friars), “The Mass of St. Benedict the African” (commissioned by the Archdiocese of Chicago) and “The Mass of St. Peter Claver” (commissioned by the Knights of Peter Claver). “The Mass of St. Peter Claver” premiered at an anniversary mass where the Archbishop of Atlanta, Wilton D. Gregory, celebrated his performance. Dr. Johnson has been published under the Colla Voce, GIA Publications and Treble Clef Press. He continues to publish most of his music through his very own publishing company, Lion and Lamb Publishing. His publications include: “We Are Christmas,” “Steal Away,” “Glory to God,” “Psalms for The Church Year Volumes I, II and III” and many more.
Courses Taught
Director of Spelman Glee Club
History of Jazz
Chamber Singers
Conducting
Survey of African American Music
Applied Guitar Lessons