Pianist Alan Johnson is a Professor at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami and Music Director/Conductor for the Frost Opera Theater. As conductor and pianist, he is widely recognized outside of academia in a career spanning music direction and performance in a multitude of progressive works at the frontiers of opera, theater, dance, and song with acclaimed and emerging artists of all generations. In addition to song recitals with mezzo-soprano Kate Tombaugh, spring and summer 2024 concerts include performances at the University of Alabama, Ball State University, Virginia Arts Festival, Sembrich Opera Museum/New York, Opera America/New York, and in Helsinki, Finland.

Recent University of Miami performances include the world premiere of The Leopard by Michael Dellaira and J. D. McClatchy (NAXOS Records release/March 2024) and Le Nozze di Figaro. Recent conducting engagements also include the orchestral stage premiere of Companionship, an opera by Rachel Peters featuring Kate Tombaugh at the Virginia Arts Festival, and Shimmer, a new musical in progress by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Anthony Davis at Yale University.

The diverse range of his interdisciplinary work has led to performances at premier national venues and festivals, including American Repertory Theater, New York City Center, Lincoln Center Festival, New York Shakespeare Festival, and many others. Known for maintaining long associations and repeat collaborations with American composers, Alan’s opera and theater engagements include numerous premieres by Philip Glass, Anthony Davis, and Douglas Cuomo, among dozens of composers.

He is the recipient of numerous awards, including an OBIE Award presented by the American Theatre Wing for Sustained Excellence in Music Direction; a Jeff Award - Excellence in Chicago Theatre for Outstanding Music Direction of the premieres of The Sound of a Voice and Hotel of Dreams, two one-act operas by Philip Glass and David Henry Hwang; and the Phillip and Patricia Frost Award for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship at the Frost School of Music.