“You have a bright future in music.” - Tony Micelli, vibesworkshop.com
Garret johnston
The Introspective Sessions (2025)
Independent Release
Press photos
Bio
Garret Johnston (b. 2001), a Mississippi native, is a performer, educator and composer based in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Johnston has been actively performing for over a decade and has been composing and arranging for instrumental and vocal ensembles for more than five years.
As a composer and arranger, Johnston has written for percussion ensembles, drum lines, auxiliary ensembles, solo percussionists, choirs and solo vocalists. By maintaining a performer-composer lifestyle, Johnston’s experience with both choral and instrumental ensembles has shaped his compositional style into a merging of the two worlds. Writing impactful, powerful, and emotional pieces, his understanding of timbre and voicing has led to unique sounds in Johnston’s music.
As a young and upcoming educator, Johnston has taught at the secondary and collegiate level, teaching drum lines, percussion ensembles, and a cappella ensembles in Mississippi and Florida. He currently teaches around central and southern Mississippi, primarily with high school percussion students. He has also taught percussion privately to students from beginner to advanced levels in various percussion instruments.
Johnston has performed at the domestic and international level, with performances across the eastern United States and multiple European countries. Playing and singing various styles and genres, Johnston has been blessed to perform with musicians of the highest caliber and for well-versed audiences. This performance experience has shaped his compositional approach to his unique combination of choral and instrumental techniques and ideas.
Johnston studied at East Central Community College for two years before being accepted to the University of Southern Mississippi, where he is currently finishing his internship with Sumrall High School under Zachary James. He performs on a regular basis with various classical, jazz, and rock ensembles. You can see him perform with Holley Rumbarger and the Hopeless Romantics, along with his own solo shows around the southeastern US.