Aaron Krister Johnson is a Chicago-based composer, musician, and teacher. His experience ranges from the Western classical keyboard tradition, to folk music, and to modern electro-acoustic free improvisation.[1]The Chicago Sun-Times called his composition "evocative",[2][3] and his improvisations have been hailed by Keyboard Magazine as "challenging and creative". His work has appeared on National Public Radio, and has been lauded by Chicagocritic.com, the Chicago Tribune,[4] the Windy City Times,[5] and the online music journal Tokafi.com
Johnson is founder and artistic director of UnTwelve,[6] a group dedicated to writing music written in alternative tunings.[7] Through the UnTwelve organization Aaron Krister Johnson collaborated with 60x60 as a music director or "macro-composer" to create the 60x60 UnTwelve mix contain 60 one-minute works with a theme of microtonality.[8]
He has worked in the area of composition of incidental music and sound design for theatre. His score for Peer Gynt was nominated for a 2005 Joseph Jefferson award for outstanding original incidental music for a play. Other theatre music and sound design credits include Madwoman of Chaillot and the Jeff-nominated Natural Affection for the Artistic Home, and Lakeside Shakespeare of Michigan's productions of Twelfth Night and Julius Caesar.