EMU Today

Brandon Johnson, DMA is the Director of Choral Activities at Eastern Michigan University and the artistic director and conductor of the Detroit Concert Choir.  Previously, he founded and was the artistic director of the emerging professional vocal ensemble Vox Lumine, based in New York.  He has conducted professional musicians across the United States while maintaining his extensive work with students of all ages. He has performed in venues across the country including Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and the Kennedy Center, and made his conducting debut at the renowned Carnegie Hall in March 2014 with the National Sacred Honor Choir.  

He has studied with German conductor Helmuth Rilling and was selected to conduct the Grammy winning Oregon Bach Festival Chorus and Orchestra. In recent years, he has received invitations to conduct the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus, Buffalo Choral Artists, Rochester Oratorio Society, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony, Cordancia and The Southern Tier Symphony. In addition to working with musicians from across the United States, he has conducted singers from Austria, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Spain, and the Ukraine.

Choirs under his direction have been invited to perform, and he has been selected to present for state and regional American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and the National Association for Music Education (NAFME) conferences. As a conducting pedagogue his students have been invited to participate in the ACDA National Conducting Competition in both the undergraduate and graduate divisions.

 In service to the profession, Johnson has served the New York State chapter of ACDA in many capacities, most recently as president.  He works tirelessly as a guest conductor, lecturer and clinician for singers of all ages and seeks to raise the level of choral music across America.