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FULL RESUME

Trumpet sensation Kris Johnson has appeared on an impressive list of albums including two Grammy Nominated releases: Tony Bennett’s “A Swingin’ Christmas” and Karen Clark Sheard’s “All In One”. Kris toured internationally with the Count Basie Orchestra from 2008 – 2010 and is a prominent performer, composer, arranger, and educator. He has Master’s (2007) and Bachelor’s (2005) degree in Jazz Studies from Michigan State University, and is an endorsed artist of CarolBrass® instruments

Kris has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious jazz venues including the Apollo Theater, the Blue Note Jazz Club (US & Japan), Blues Alley, and the Hollywood Bowl. He has also had the opportunity to perform with many jazz greats including Tony Bennett, Patti Austin, Wess Anderson, Wycliffe Gordon, Jon Hendricks, Monty Alexander, Christian McBride, Jamie Cullum, and many others.  PBS viewers may have seen Kris in the documentary Inside Jazz: Everybody’s Welcome, where Kris was a featured soloist in a master class with jazz great Wynton Marsalis.

Kris Johnson is an award-winning American composer. Drawing from jazz, classical, hip-hop, and neo-soul, Kris’s writing creates diverse textures that represent his unique musical identity. He has composed several large-scale works for jazz and orchestral ensembles including Jim Crow’s Tears (his graduate thesis), a Journey Through a Dream (commissioned by the Arts League of Michigan), and Odd Expressions (commissioned by Troy High School). His arrangements have been performed and/or recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra, Karen Clark Sheard, Yolanda Adams, the Clark Sisters, Farmington Community Band, the Motor City Brass Band, and Detroit Symphony’s Civic Jazz Ensembles. Kris is also the exclusive copyist for composer and trombonist, Wycliffe Gordon.

Kris has a keen sensitivity to the nuances of film as is evident in his award winning film scores for various web-series and short films. Kris received an award for Outstanding Score for his work on the comedic webseries The PuNanny Diaries at the 2011 LA Webfest. In 2010 Kris made his acting debut in Joshua Amir’s The Saxophone Player, co-starring and composing the music for the film. Currently, Kris is completing the score to his first feature film, Disasterpiece, by Stephen Allison.

A passionate educator, Kris is a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s educational staff directing the Civic Jazz Band which features some of Detroit’s most promising youth. His private students have received scholarships to various music programs and colleges including Manhattan School of Music, Michigan State University, Interlochen Fine Arts Academy & Camp, and the Stanford Jazz Workshop. While pursuing his Master’s Degree at Michigan State, Kris served as a Graduate Assistant teaching Beginning Jazz Improvisation I & II, and conducting the MSU Jazz Octet III. Kris has also served as a Jazz Artist in Residence at Troy High School since 2009.

He is also the writer and co-creator of The Learning Express, a series of workshops that use Hip-Hop and Jazz to teach Elementary students about science, reading, and math. Since the fall of 2010, Kris has served as the Project Director for Pontiac GAINS, an Arts in Education Model Dissemination and Development grant awarded to the Pontiac School District by the U.S. Department of Education. In this role, Kris is responsible for integrating arts and academics for students in grades K – 6 and managing all administrative and fiscal responsibilities.