Will Johnson

Will Johnson is a composer and performer from the Bronx, New York. He holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from NYU-Gallatin and an MA in Multimedia Composition from Brown University, where he is also currently a doctoral candidate. Past awards for his work include the Jerome Foundation Fellowship for Sound Art/Composition and the McKnight Foundation’s Fellowship for Musicians. His commercial work includes licensed sound and original composition for Acura, GAP, Beats Electronics, HBO, and vocal contributions to 2016 Grammy-winning best electronic album Skin. Recent composition work includes original score for Love Thy Neighbor, a critically acclaimed podcast about the Crown Heights Riots
produced by Pineapple Street Media and written by journalist Collier Meyerson. Live performances by Johnson have been commissioned by Lincoln Center, the Kitchen, 92Y, Mass MoCA and the Afropunk Festival. Recent collaborative work includes Meta-Simulacrum, an immersive audiovisual performance performed by the Cincinnati Symphony and ongoing work with choreographer Okwui Okpokwasili for
MoMA’s debut artist-in-residence initiative. His multichannel audio and sound installation work has been featured in artist Hebru Brantley’s Nevermore Park and as part of the University of Johannesburg’s
2022 Black Sonic exhibition.