James Johnson has recently been appointed organist-choirmaster Christ & Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church in New York City. Dr. Johnson earned a Master of Church Music degree at Westminster Choir College while studying with Joan Lippincott. He earned a doctorate at the University of Arizona where he studied with Roy Johnson (no relation). He is a native of South Carolina, and during his early years there studied with William Patrick Partridge of the Converse College Faculty, and organist at the Cathedral of St. Louis. He was also coached by Robert Powell, organist at Christ Church (Episcopal) and composer of hymns and service music for The Hymnal 1982. Some years later, Powell wrote a set of Chorale Preludes at Johnson’s commission which were published by Morningstar Press. During his years in Arizona, he was mentored by Camil van Hulse, the last living representative of the Franck School. Johnson believes that learning is a lifelong process, and he has recently begun improvisation studies with Jason Roberts, organist-choirmaster at Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church, and winner of the AGO Improvisation Competition. 

Johnson’s inaugural recital of the Gress-Miles organ at the University of Alaska was broadcast nationally on participating NPR stations. He oversaw the installation of a Casavant organ at the First United Methodist Church while in Fairbanks. He served as organist-choirmaster there for fifteen years. He also oversaw renovations on the 60-rank Reuter organ at All Saints Episcopal Church in Omaha, Nebraska (the largest Episcopal Church in Nebraska) where he served as organist-choirmaster for fifteen years. He comes to Christ & Saint Stephen’s most recently from St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Staten Island where he developed the choir into a virtuoso ensemble that performed works of Howells, Stanford, Dyson, and other English composers in the weekly services and periodic Lessons and Carols, and Evensong services. 

Dr. Johnson also enjoyed a parallel career as a pianist and university professor throughout his life. He has performed and/or recorded with the Boston Pops, the Royal Philharmonic, the Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Philharmonic, Victoria Symphony, and the National Radio orchestra of Slovenia. His recordings have appeared on the Best Recent Recordings lists of Clavier Magazine. His lineage as a pianist can be traced through his various teachers to Rachmaninoff, Liszt, and Beethoven. From the earliest days of his career critics have frequently and favorably compared his playing to keyboard giants such as Horowitz, Gilels, and Wilhelm Kempf. Johnson became a Steinway artist in the mid-1980s. His biography has appeared in Who’s Who in America, Who’s who in the World, Living Legends, a publication of the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, UK. He has served on the faculties of The University of Arizona, the University of Alaska, and the University of Nebraska.