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 across the world and teaches masterclasses across the country. He is an avid composer, improviser, and supporter of new music too. For example, Alex recently produced Tower Thoughts, a Carillon New Music Festival featuring six new commissions and guest performers from around the world, 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 informally 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. 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 minored in Music, Math, and Linguistics. During his undergraduate, Alex also studied abroad one semester at the University of Sydney.

In 2019, Alex won several prizes at the International Queen Fabiola Carillon Competition: 1st Prize overall, prize for the best performance of a work by a Belgian composer, and the improvisation prize.

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