Aaron Johnson is on leave for 2005

Bass-baritone Aaron Johnson has been a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at both Orchestra Hall and the Ravinia Festival. On the operatic stage he most recently appeared in Da Corneto’s production of Donzetti’s Lucrezia Borgia and with L’Opera Piccola in Puccini’s La Bohème. He also has performed roles in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffman, Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea, and Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti.

A member of the nine-voice ensemble Chicago a cappella since 1997, Aaron has performed extensively throughout the Chicago area, appearing as soloist and ensemble member. With the group, he has performed a wide range of works—from Renaissance to contemporary music, and numerous American and world premieres—and has sung on many recordings, including Go Down Moses (an album exploring the roots of the African-American spiritual) and demos of newly published music for Hinshaw Music, Inc.

Aaron is in his tenth season as a member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, having performed at Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, Orchestra Hall, and the Ravinia Festival, under the batons of Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Mstislav Rostropovich, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Chailly, Bernard Haitink, and Christoph Eschenbach. He has served as second bass section leader and as a member of select, smaller ensembles, in youth concerts as well as with the Resident Ensemble, performing for Chicago public schools. Aaron also appeared on two of Sir Georg Solti’s recordings (on London Records) with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus: Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar).

Aaron also has performed with the Grant Park Symphony Chorus, and performed and recorded with the Schola Cantorum of Saint Peter’s and the Anshe Emet Synagogue Choir.

As an educator, Aaron has been on faculty at Elmhurst College since 2000, with a studio of over fifty undergraduate students and community members, ranging in age from fourteen to seventy. In addition to teaching private voice lessons, he has taught several classes, including music appreciation and music theory. At the college’s theatre department he has been a vocal coach, music director and stage director. Most recently he directed Beguiled Again: The Songs of Rodgers and Hart.

Aaron received his bachelor and master’s degrees in vocal performance from Northwestern University. While a student, he participated in several master classes—including those given by William Warfield and Mignon Dunne—and taught private voice to theatre students, preparing them for auditions, performances, and juries.

As Aaron continues to explore new ways to expand his craft as a singer and educator, the greatest joys in his life happily remain a constant—his wife Cheryl and their son Noah.