“The experience of preparing for an international competition is actually pretty grueling,” Johnson said. “It takes at least a year of highly focused preparation in order to stand up well in the competitive field.” Johnson has been studying privately with Madriguera since 2012, and he spends four to six hours daily practicing, with much of that time dedicated to the competition music. He believes the festival and competition have become a campus tradition because of the high level of the performers, competitors and instructors participating. “There are things we can learn about ourselves through the arts which cannot be easily explored in other ways,” he said. “Every year, UTD brings in world-class talent to judge the competitions, give concerts and teach master classes. The quality of the festival draws in talented and driven participants from all over the world, and the youth competition encourages a high level of music-making in young players.”-- Miguel Perez - UTD News Center

"Johnson is a young, classically trained multi-instrumentalist with over 25 years of performance experience in a wide variety of disciplines. He is the face of a new wave of talented young performers taking an interest in the Historically Informed Performance (HIP) movement." -- The Colony Courier-Leader