Colleen Matheu Johnson is a flutist and principal piccoloist of the Houston Ballet Orchestra.
Prior to Ms. Johnson's appointment with the Houston Ballet, she performed with the Kalamazoo Symphony in Michigan as principal piccolo for three consecutive years. She was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Arkansas Symphony, and has had the opportunity to perform with many fine ensembles including the Chicago Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, and the Houston Grand Opera.
Ms. Johnson completed her graduate flute and piccolo performance studies with Walfrid Kujala in June of 2003 at Northwestern University. She received her bachelor of music degree in flute performance from The Oberlin Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Michel Debost and Kathleen Chastain.
Ms. Johnson has received scholarships from Oberlin College, Northwestern University, among other institutions. She has won prizes in the Musicians Club of Women Annual Music Scholarship Competition, the National Flute Association's Young Artist Piccolo Competition, the Society of American Musicians Competition, the Texas Music Festival's Young Artist Concerto Competition, and received the Park Ridge Civic Orchestra's scholarship as well as the Chicago Federation of Musicians scholarship. In 2005, Ms. Johnson was one of three americans selected who performed as a semi-finalist in the Jean Pierre Rampal Flute Competition in Paris, France.
Ms. Johnson performed as principal piccoloist with the Peninsula Music Festival in Door County, Wisconsin in August of 2010 and as a guest flutist in 2012. She has also concertized in the US and abroad, performing solo, chamber, and orchestral recitals at the Aspen Music Festival, Spoleto USA Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, the Texas Music Festival, the Henry Mancini Institute, Domaine Forget Summer Institute, among others. She has appeared on Chicago's WFMT 98.7FM as a soloist on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series as well as Houston's KUHF 88.7FM, "The Front Row" with her chamber ensemble, The Oberon Ensemble. In July of 2014, she will perform on the Musician's Club of Women Recital Series at Preston Bradley Hall at Chicago's Cultural Center. She will also perform Bohuslav Martinu's, "Madrigal Sonata" at the National Flute Association's 2014 Convention in Chicago during the month of August.
Ms. Johnson has been a masterclass clinician at the Texas Music Festival and Stephen F. Austin State University. She is professor emeritus of flute and music appreciation at Lone Star College Montgomery. Ms. Johnson currently maintains a private flute studio in the Houston Heights neighborhood. She is the founder and has served as the artistic coordinator of the Houston Flute Club Young Artist Competition and currently directs The Houston Youth String Orchestra (www.hyso.info).
In her free time, Ms. Johnson enjoys spending time with her husband, violinist of the Houston Symphony, Kurt Johnson, as well as their daughter, Allegra, and son Luke. She also enjoys spending time with her friends, traveling, reading, exercising, and baking.