Dr. Nathaniel Johnson

Dr. Nathaniel Johnson is a wind/orchestral conductor and a clarinetist.  He is the Director of Instrumental Music at Western Nebraska Community College, where his duties include leading the Western Nebraska Winds, Fire in the Pan Swingers, and Cougar Rock, as well as teaching clarinet/saxophone and music theory/history.

An enthusiastic teacher and passionate musician, Johnson loves to awake similar artistic passions in his students.  His students have gone on to enjoy full-time careers as composers, touring performers, singer-songwriters, worship leaders, public-school music educators, and university music faculty.  Of those that go on to non-musical careers, many continue to be heavily involved in music as an avocation.

Dr. Johnson earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Clarinet Performance at Metropolitan State College of Denver, where he graduated summa cum laude. He went on to earn a Master of Music and a Doctor of Arts in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Northern Colorado.

As a student of celebrated conductor/arranger Kenneth Singleton, Nat has created dozens of arrangements and transcriptions for various WNCC bands, as well as other ensembles.

He has served as Principal Conductor of the Western Nebraska Chamber Players, 101st Army Band, and Boulder Concert Band, as well as Associate Conductor of the Evergreen Chamber Orchestra, Timberline Symphony Orchestra, and Littleton Symphony Orchestra, all in Colorado.  He is also a frequent conductor for Theatre West Summer Repertory Theatre, located on the WNCC campus.

As a former violinist, Johnson is proud to be a frequent guest instructor for the String Sprouts program, an outreach of the Omaha Conservatory that provides free violin classes to Scottsbluff children ages 3-9.

In his “other” career, Johnson has been a member of the 101st Army Band (Colorado National Guard) since 1988.  He currently serves that organization as Director of Training, and also leader of the “Hot Seven”, an award-winning traditional jazz band.  As a military member himself, he works closely with the veteran community both at WNCC and in the Valley area.

Johnson’s proudest achievement is his family.  He has five children: four violin players at home and one music-theatre major in college.  He loves to spend time with them when they’re not rehearsing and performing themselves, and he is inspired by—and thankful for—the love they have for one another.