Praised for her “polish and panache” and “fluent, committed, and eloquent advocacy of contemporary pieces,” Jess Johnson is passionate about championing new music. As a member of Sole Nero, a piano and percussion duo with Anthony Di Sanza, percussion, the group has contributed significantly to the repertoire, including commissions by Evan Hause, Dave Hollinden, Serra Hwang, Joseph Koykkar, Les Thimmig, Joel Naumann, Elena Ruehr, and Laura Schwendinger. An advocate for the adoption of the Donison-Steinbuhler (DS) Standard, her latest recording project Sojourn (Albany Records) features newly commissioned works by Serra Hwang, Elena Ruehr, Laura Schwendinger, and Lawren Brianna Ware performed on the DS5.5™ (“7/8”) keyboard.

An active clinician, she has given workshops and presentations at the European Piano Teachers Association International Conference, World Piano Pedagogy Conference, ISME, MTNA, CMS, Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA), National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP), Portland International Piano Festival, as well as held residencies at major universities and colleges throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

Johnson has articles published in American Music Teacher, Piano Journal of the European Piano Teachers Association, Piano Magazine, and Piano Pedagogy Forum. She is a three-time winner of American Music Teacher’s Article of the Year Award for “Feeling the Sound: Reflections on Claiming One’s Own Musical Voice” (2014), “The Art of Listening with Depth, Understanding, Flow and Imagery” (2007), and “Awakening Rhythmic Intuition and Flow in the Developing Pianist” (2019). Current research explores cross-modal, multi-sensory engagement in the creative process and the impact of contemplative practices on making music joyfully.

Johnson serves on the piano faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as professor of piano and piano pedagogy and director of graduate studies. In 2006, she was the recipient of UW-Madison’s prestigious Emil Steiger Distinguished Teaching Award. A devoted teacher, Johnson’s students have secured teaching positions in North American, South America, Europe, and Asia. Passionate about community engagement and arts outreach, she serves as director of Piano Pioneers, a program that brings high quality piano instruction to low-income community members and at-risk youth in Wisconsin. She holds the DMA and MM from the University of Michigan, and the BM from East Carolina University. Her principal teachers include Arthur Greene, Charles Fisher and Donna Coleman, and piano pedagogy studies with Joanne Smith and Kerry Carlin.