Alex Johnson is currently the University Carillonist of the University of Chicago. There he teaches a studio of 20 students and regularly plays the 72-bell, 100-ton Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, the third heaviest carillon in the world. Alex performs carillon recitals and teaches masterclasses across the world. He is an avid composer, improviser, and supporter of new music too. At the University of Chicago, Alex recently produced Tower Thoughts, a Carillon New Music Festival featuring 25 composers, 14 performers, 11 world premieres, and 46 pieces in total, the second Carillon New Music Festival in University of Chicago history, and the world’s first carillon festival featuring a talking tower.

Before moving to Chicago, Alex taught high school math in Austin, Texas, where he also taught and played the carillon at the University of Texas at Austin. In 2020, Alex graduated summa cum laude from the Royal Carillon School “Jef Denyn” in Mechelen, Belgium. In 2019, he studied for six months as the Carillon Fellow at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida. Also in 2019, Alex won several prizes at the 8th International Queen Fabiola Carillon Competition in Mechelen: 1st Prize overall, prize for the best performance of a work by a Belgian composer, and the improvisation prize.

At the University of Rochester, Alex discovered the carillon, played in the Mbira and Gamelan ensembles at Eastman School of Music, majored in Physics, and obtained minors in Music, Math, and Linguistics. During his undergraduate, Alex also studied and played the carillon for one semester at the University of Sydney in Australia.

Alex’s musical journey began with piano at age seven and percussion at age ten. He is deeply indebted to his high school percussion instructors’ time, energy, and talent. Besides music, Alex is fond of cooking and swimming in Lake Michigan.

Contact: alexrjohnson@uchicago.edu