Trace has won orchestral positions at the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, Orlando Philharmonic, Sarasota Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Recently, Trace has performed on Masterworks programs with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Artosphere Festival Orchestra in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Trace has also performed with the Juneau Symphony, Florentine Opera, Sarasota Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Miami City Ballet, Nu-Deco Ensemble, Florida Grand Opera, Atlantic Classical Orchestra, Symphony of the Americas, New World Symphony Orchestra, and in touring productions of Disney’s Anastasia, Hello Dolley, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Andrea Bocelli, and Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience.

As a chamber performer, Trace has appeared in recitals with faculty from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory of Music, University of California: Los Angeles, The Juilliard School, Rice University, The Colburn School, University of Toronto, Florida Atlantic University, Lynn Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida, Palm Beach Atlantic University, Florida International University, Shenandoah University, Queens College in New York City, SUNY Purchase University, Mannes School of Music, and the University of Michigan-Lansing. Trace has had recent chamber collaborations with members of the Willy Street Chamber Players, Bach Dancing Dynamite Society, and LunArts Festival in Madison, Wisconsin and in Fairhope, Alabama at the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival where he is one of two Co-Artistic and Executive Directors.

 An advocate of contemporary music, Trace has been involved in many different projects performing the works of modern composers. From 2015-16, Trace performed as the solo cellist of the touring crossover ensemble, Barrage8, across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Trace recorded the full cello tracking on the debut Barrage8 album released in 2016. In November 2020, Trace recorded solo cello work, All the Pretty Little Horses, by Wisconsin composer and UW-Professor of Composition, Laura Schwendinger, at Oktaven Studios in Hoboken, New Jersey. The work has since been released on Trace Johnson’s debut album, Works for Cello, released on PARMA Records and will be featured on another Albany Release in the near future. In August 2021, Trace produced recordings from two contemporary solo recitals recorded live at the Arts + Literature Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin in early August 2021. Trace performed works by Osvaldo Golijov, Steven Stucky, Laura Elise Schwendinger, and a premiere from New York-based composer, Jesse Limbacher entitled, 'Trace​d for ‘Cello Solo’. In the summer of 2022 at the Atlantic Music Festival in Waterville, Maine, Trace premiered the new unaccompanied cello solo ‘Hushing Song’ by Pulitzer-prize-winning American composer, Melinda Wagner. Dr. Johnson recently released his recorded his album with PARMA Recordings, TRACE JOHNSON: Works for Cello; the album features an arrangement of Jonathon Harvey, Ricercare Una Melodia for cello and electronics, Samuel Barber Cello Sonata, Guillaume Connesson Les Chants des L’Agartha, Erwin Schulhoff Duo for Violin and Cello, and the premiere recording of Limbic Notes— a new cello solo in three movements from New-York-based, pulitzer-prize winning composer, Melinda Wagner.

education

Trace received his Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2012 and his Master’s of Music from Lynn Conservatory in December 2016, his principal instructors have been David Cole, Dr. Melissa Kraut, Joseph Johnson, and Dr. Tanya Carey. Trace recently received his Doctor of Musical Arts, DMA, degree with a minor in Electro-Acoustic Music from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music as a Collins Fellow under the tutelage of cellist and Feldenkreis practitioner, Uri Vardi and Pro Arte Quartet cellist, Parry Karp.  ​While a doctoral student at UW-Madison, Trace was a top-prize winner at the Bolz Center for Arts Administration’s Arts Business Competition in addition to receiving the Lyman S.V. Judson and Ellen Mackechnie Judson Graduate Student Award in the Creative Arts, Creative Arts Division Creative Arts Award, and the Mead Witter Music School Graduate Student Grant Competition award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

roots

Trace is one-quarter Mexican whose ancestry comes from relatives who emigrated from Chihuahua, Mexico to the Bay Area of California in the middle of the 19th century. Trace celebrates his heritage through his love of Latin music of all kinds and daydreams about the indiginous Tarahumara people that were likely neighbors to his ancestors in the Barrancas del Cobre range in Mexico.

Fostering a sense of genuine curiosity about music, developing an investigative approach to the developing of instrumental skill, and realizing a sense of connectedness to the world through the vehicle of music have always been significant goals for my own pedagogy! My cello lessons mix solid technique, fun challenges, and great music, from early Suzuki songs to advanced, multi-movement sonatas and concerti. My goal as a teacher is to guide my students through developing skills step-by-step, learn how to implement good practice habits at home, and to help them prepare to present their work for performances.

Over the years, my students have earned first-chair spots, won competitions, and joined top orchestras in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida. I am Suzuki-certified and bring a lot of energy, creativity, and encouragement to every lesson. Most of all, I want each student to feel confident, inspired, and excited to make music—both in lessons and out in the world!

My role as cello teacher is to guide my student’s journey and to foster a learning environment that allows them to realize their own musical journey. To help my students better envision themselves as participants in an artistic, musical world, I like to connect them with local ensembles, summer camps, and musical organizations that may be relevant to their goals and aspirations.

My work as a teacher is and always has been, an extension of myself; sharing the art of cello playing, searching and finding the meaning in music, and learning alongside my own students, are some of the greatest joys that teaching has brought into my life. Some of the greatest lessons I have learned have been from my students; they constantly amaze and inspire me!