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Tenor Mark Johnson is a life-long musician with performing credits at the national, regional and local levels in opera, sacred music and musical theatre. Whether working as an evil henchman (Spoletta, Tosca), a conniving lawyer (Don Curzio, Figaro), a protective older brother (Sam, Susanna) or a traveling Magi (Kaspar, Amahl), his focused and flexible lyric tenor voice has been heard in performances with Asheville Lyric Opera, Baton Rouge Opera, Opera East Texas (nee Longview Opera), Four Corners Opera, Tulsa Little Symphony Orchestra, Tyler Civic Chorale and the Montreat Bach Festival. He has sung with and directed sacred and community choral groups in New York and Washington, DC, including the White House.
In addition to numerous solo appearances, he is also a member of the Texas Vocal Arts Ensemble, a professional choral group headquartered in Tyler, Texas. As a soloist and choral musician, he is particularly noted for his oratorio performances, and his concert appearances also include works by Purcell, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Gounod, Rutter, Stainer and others.
He has taught voice at the college and university level since 1988, attaining the rank of Associate Professor with Tenure. His achievements as a long-standing member of the
National Association of Teachers of Singing include students who have won vocal competitions at all levels (UIL/TAPPS/NATS), as well as significant performance scholarship awards to nationally-ranked music programs. Former students have completed masters and doctoral degrees, have
become music entrepreneurs and singer/songwriters with major national awards (Dove;Grammy), and work nationally and internationally as
educators, directors of church music programs and
choral or symphonic conductors. Others are active in the recording and television industry in Nashville and Los Angeles (Glee).
Presently, he is Executive Director of Da Capo Studios, Tyler, Texas, and serves as Director of Worship and Fine Arts at First Christian Church in Tyler, Texas. Dr. Johnson often appears with his wife, soprano Molly Johnson, presenting Broadway revues at community venues throughout the South and Southwest. The Johnsons have produced two sacred CDs and two wonderful daughters.
Dr. Mark Johnson holds the Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees in Voice Performance from Oral Roberts University, Oklahoma City University and Louisiana State University respectively. Additional work experience includes performing, producing or directing music in the radio, TV and recording industry with the Billy Graham, Oral Roberts and Jimmy Swaggart ministries in Nashville, TN and Hollywood, CA and Baton Rouge, LA.
Other academic achievements include awards, research grants and scholarships from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Southern Arts Federation, the Appalachian College Association, and the University of Texas Faculty Scholars program. His latest publication is an article on Southern Shape-Note Singing titled “Shape Notes in Seattle” in Folklife Journal. In addition, he recently presented a peer-reviewed lecture-recital “I, Too, Sing America: The African-American Art Song Tradition in the U.S.” at the Texoma Regional Conference of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
When not on stage or in the studio Mark flies a Cessna Skyhawk as an FAA certificated Private Pilot (SEL). He is a qualified Mission Pilot for Angel Flight, a charitable organization that provides General Aviation air transportation to ambulatory cancer patients and other individuals with special needs. Since 1997 he has been a member of the Civil Air Patrol (USAF Auxiliary), having flown Mission Pilot sorties on the 2003 Columbia Recovery Mission and other Search and Rescue Missions. From 2001 - 2005 he served as CAP Commander for the Simulated Undergraduate Pilot Training Course, a National Cadet Special Activity for CAP Cadets at Columbus Air Force Base, Columbus, Mississippi.
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