Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson trained classically as a pianist and composer before building a reputation through contemporary instrumental releases. He established Dolce & Nuit Productions, the company handling his publishing and production, and first drew notice with the 1986 debut album A Quiet Moment. While maintaining activity as a teacher, musical director, and composer, Johnson has issued successive themed instrumental collections such as 1995’s End of a Day, 2014’s The New Silent Night, and 2019’s Every Time I Feel the Spirit.

Born in Sherman, Texas, in 1961, he began piano lessons at age six and performed regularly in church settings. During his teenage years he already displayed exceptional skill and began writing original material. After completing high school he received a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from Oklahoma Baptist University, then earned a Master of Music in Composition and Jazz Studies with a Distinction in Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, studying under pianist Seymour Lipkin and composer William Thomas McKinley. While enrolled at the conservatory he started presenting his own compositions publicly. In 1985 he launched Dolce & Nuit Productions, naming the firm after his cats, and began issuing his musical works. His first solo album of original instrumental music, A Quiet Moment, appeared in 1986; its reception prompted the follow-up Something About the Moon three years later. Additional releases arrived soon afterward, among them 1992’s Conversations and two 1995 projects, End of a Day and Winter on the Common.

A certified music instructor, Johnson has offered private lessons continuously since 1977 and has held faculty appointments at the Performing Arts School in Worcester, Massachusetts; North Shore Community College in Lynn, Massachusetts; and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. He has also acted as Director of Music at several churches and served as a musical engraver, arranger, and editor for publishing firms including Great Commissions Publications, Crown & Covenant, FJH Music, and Lifeway Christian Resources.

Johnson’s professional efforts have centered on recording, performing, and publishing his own compositions and arrangements. He has created works for solo piano, orchestra, vocal and handbell choirs, vocalists, and jazz ensembles. Selections of his music have appeared in film and television productions such as Hard Copy, the 1990 public-service announcement Don’t Be a Litterbug!, and the 2007 drama Out of Balance. He has further licensed material to background-music services including Muzak, 3M, AEI Music, and Sirius Satellite Radio.

In 2010 Johnson resumed issuing original recordings with the eight-volume Matthew’s Yoga Music series and the spiritually oriented Reflections on…The Proverbs of Solomon. The holiday album The New Silent Night followed in 2014, with O Holy Night arriving the next year. He subsequently produced additional spiritually themed collections drawing on biblical figures such as Noah and Luke. Several more albums appeared in 2019, among them Surrender, New Life, and Every Time I Feel the Spirit. Instrumental releases continued in 2020 with Hot Cup of Tea, Broadway, We Gather Together, Come, Ye Thankful People, Come, and My Own Compass.