2020 Festival Conductor

Jefferson Johnson is Director of Choral Activities at the University of Kentucky where he conducts the University Chorale and Men’s Chorus. He also teaches advanced choral conducting, choral methods and literature, and directs the graduate program (MM and DMA degrees) in choral music. A native of Atlanta, Johnson received the Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Georgia (magna cum laude, 1978), the Master of Music from the University of Tennessee (1981), and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado (1992). While living in Atlanta, Johnson was also a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Chamber Chorus conducted by Robert Shaw.

University of Kentucky choirs under Johnson’s direction have performed at more than twenty conventions of choral music educators, including national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO), Music Educators National Conference (MENC), and Intercollegiate Male Choruses (IMC).  Most recently the UK Chorale performed at the 2016 ACDA Southern Division Convention in Chattanooga; the UK Men’s Chorus was featured in performance at the 2015 ACDA National Convention in Salt Lake City, the 2013 NCCO National Convention in Charleston, SC, the 2012 ACDA Southern Division Convention in Winston-Salem, and the 2011 ACDA National Convention in Chicago.

The UK Chorale, a select mixed choir, has toured extensively with recent performances in Paris (Cathedral of Notre Dame, Chartres Cathedral, American Cathedral, and Cathedral of La Madeleine), Washington, D.C. (Kennedy Center), the Bahamas (private performance in the Presidential Palace), and New York City (Carnegie Hall).  The Chorale has collaborated with numerous artists including The King Singers, violinist Mark O’Connor, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and acclaimed conductor/composer James Burton.  In 2015 the UK Chorale became the first university choral ensemble in the world to perform the soundtrack for the ground-breaking film 2001: A Space Odyssey with music by Gyorgy Ligeti.

Johnson is also presently Music Director of the Lexington Singers, a 180-voice community chorus which performs major works with the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra. The Singers have toured internationally, most recently to Brazil, France, Italy, and Austria.  In 2000 the chorus performed Mozart’s Requiem with the Vienna Mozart Orchestra in the famous Hofburg Palace and sang the evening mass at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. In 2003 the chorus performed in St. Marks Cathedral in Venice and sang mass at St. Peters Basilica in Vatican City. In 1999 the Lexington Singers celebrated its 40th anniversary with a performance in New York City as Johnson made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting the Singers and orchestra in Faure’s Requiem.

Johnson maintains an active schedule as an adjudicator and guest conductor for high-school and collegiate choirs throughout the United States. He has conducted honor choruses in 30 states and has appeared as a featured clinician at ACDA or MENC conventions in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia.