Called “a sensitive performer” by the New York Times and “especially impressive” by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, James Johnston is an American musician who enjoys an active and varied career as a pianist, keyboardist, composer, and arranger. A graduate of the Juilliard School and Yale University, James applies his varied skills and abilities to a wide variety of projects. Performance highlights include premieres of Tyondai Braxton’s Central Market with the London Sinfonietta and LA Philharmonic, a Centennial performance of Pierrot Lunaire with the Proteus Ensemble at the Five Boroughs Music Festival, and performances of John Adams’ Gnarly Buttons and Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #3 at the 2014 Vail Festival. Concerto appearances include Mozart K453 (with original cadenzas) with the Pittsburgh Symphony and Elliot Carter’s Double Concerto (on Harpsichord) and John Adams Grand Pianola Music with the Manhattan School of Music Orchestra.

A winner in both the Yellow Springs and Fischoff National Chamber Music Competitions with the Proteus Ensemble, James is very active as a chamber musician. A founding member of the Proteus Ensemble, Newspeak, Trio Chimera, and Electric Kompany, he has also performed with the Eighth Blackbird, the Orion Quartet, the Ethel Quartet, Zephyros Winds, Either/Or, the Wordless Orchestra, Oneida, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Artemis Ensemble, and the Fireworks Ensemble. His concert schedule has included performances in Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Whitney Museum, the Ford Theatre, the Library of Congress, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Heinz Hall, Disney Hall, and the Walter Reade Theatre as part of the Great Performers at Lincoln Center series.

An active promoter of new music, James served as the pianist in the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble from 2001-2003 and has worked with Jacob Ter Veldhuis, David Rakowski, David del Tredici, and Mark Mellits on new works. James has also composed and arranged a number of works for his ensembles, as well as electronic tracks as the creator of the modern math pop group inalgebra. Arrangements James has done include Debussy’s ‘Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun’, Copland’s ‘Appalachian Spring’, Webern’s transcription of Bach’s RICERCAR from the Musical Offering, Eric Dolphy’s ‘Hat and Beard’, and ‘We Won’t Get Fooled Again’ by the Who.

James received his doctoral degree at the Manhattan School of Music and currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA.