Hailing from Austin, Texas, oboist Michael Johnson is currently the third oboe and English horn of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, a position he was appointed to in 2019. He has also performed as guest principal oboe with the Phoenix Symphony and the Romanian State Symphony respectively. His eclectic freelance career has further found him performing in such groups as the Arizona Opera, the Austin Symphony, The Victoria Bach Festival, The Arizona Bach Festival, and the Cactus Chamber Musicians. He has had the pleasure of working with such esteemed conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Michael Stern, Ludovic Morlot, Robert Spano, Tito Muñoz, Carl St. Clair, Stephane Deneve, Gerard Schwarz, James Judd, and has in the past attended the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Miami Music Festival, Festival Napa Valley, and the Eastern Music Festival as a student. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music, a masters from McGill University, and is currently a doctoral candidate at Arizona State University. His primary teachers include Robert Botti, Theodore Baskin, and Martin Schuring.