Dr. Erik Johnson is an Associate Professor of Music Education at Colorado State University, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music education, is the director of the CSU Middle School Outreach Ensemble program, and conducts the 130-member CSU Concert Band. As a music educator, his goals are to cultivate a sincere passion for artistry and music learning for students at all levels.

Johnson is a CSU Distinction in Community Outreach Award winner and a GRAMMY Scientific Research Award winner—an award that is accompanied by a grant that supports research into how peer-assisted learning in music can help to improve social responsiveness for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He holds a master’s degree in Wind Conducting and a Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

As a teacher, Johnson has received three school board commendations, two 9-News Teacher Who Cares Awards, and a Colorado Teacher of the Year Award sponsored by the Walmart Foundation. As a conductor, clinician, and educational consultant, he has worked extensively throughout the United States and internationally in Japan, India, China, Lithuania, Spain, Ireland, Argentina, and the Dominican Republic. In 2009, he received first prize in the Hugh McMillan conducting competition. He is a frequent music festival adjudicator and presenter at state, national, and international music education conferences. He was recently a featured scholar in the documentary Carry the Tune (directed and produced by Paul Trapkus), which was awarded best documentary at the 2015 San Francisco Film Festival and was an Official Selection of the World Arts Film Festival. His scholarly writings and research have been published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Music Educators Journal, Contributions to Music Education, Journal of Education and Training Studies, and The Bulletin for the Council of Research in Music Education.

Johnson currently is on the conducting staff of the Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras and is the founder of the Greater Boulder Youth Wind Ensemble, which was invited to perform at the inaugural SHIFT Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.