Professor Alexander Johnson, Head of the Department of Music in the Humanities, has published more than 50 compositions to date that have been performed and broadcast all over the world – in the UK, USA, France, Corsica, Serbia, Croatia, Russia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, China, Poland, Trinidad, Tobago, Portugal, and in South Africa.
His areas of research are composition and orchestration, music theory and music analysis.
Professor Johnson’s 2015 composition, Afro Dizzy, for Soprano and Alto Saxophone, Piano, String Quintet and Drumkit – commissioned by the SAMRO Foundation – has been performed by Karendra Devroop and Matthew Lombardt, and the Evolution String Quartet, and broadcast live by Classic FM (South Africa). His Twee Al Galidi Liederen, Mijn bestaan and Vredesbespreking van het hart van Zorro met de rust, were performed by Hanli Stapela (soprano) and Jannie le Roux (piano) in the Musaion in March 2015. This work was commissioned by the Colloquium Neerlandistiek in collaboration with the Nederlandse Taalunie, the Ambassade van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden and the Algemene Afvaardiging van de Vlaamse Regering.
His work, Colour-keys for Solo Clarinet (B-flat), was commissioned by the SAMRO Foundation for the Creative Arts for the 2014 Unisa International Flute and Clarinet Competition in Pretoria. It was performed by eight of the nine competitors, and has since been performed internationally in Kraków, Venice and Naples.
Professor Johnson’s Music for Children has been performed in Russia, Poland, the UK and USA. His Two Afro-disiacs for String Orchestra was commissioned by the esteemed Zürich Camerata String Orchestra, and performed by the same orchestra in the Tonhalle and at the Hochschule für Musik, both in Zürich. His Jazz Impromptu No 1 has been performed globally and is currently prescribed for the London Trinity College Licenciate (LTCL) examination. The Trinity College of Music in London has solicited a second piano piece from Professor Johnson for publication in their globally distributed piano examination albums. One of his works is published in the International Journal of Contemporary Compositions.
Professor Johnson is a founding board member of the Composers’ National Collegium and the founder and director of the Stefans Grové National Composition Competition which has, as its main focus, the promotion and upliftment of the classical music arts in South Africa.
