Paul Johnston has enjoyed a multi-faceted career as a pianist, teacher, composer, and arranger. He is at home in a wide variety of musical styles and has performed with leading artists across the country. Soloists, chamber groups, and jazz ensembles regularly perform his compositions and arrangements, and Alfred Music has published several collections of his solo piano arrangements.  

Paul sees teaching as a great art and has enjoyed working with students of all ages. He serves as Professor of Music at Eastern Illinois University, where he directs the Jazz Lab Band, coaches combos, and teaches jazz piano, improvisation, and arranging. He taught on the summer faculty at the Interlochen Center for the Arts for over a decade and continues to teach at Eastern's Summer Music Camp. His former students include successful performers and teachers and administrators at the elementary, secondary, and collegiate levels.

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Paul earned a Bachelor of Arts (with highest distinction) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master’s Degree (with Performer’s Certificate) and Performer Diploma at Indiana University.  He is also an alumnus of Ravinia's Steans Music Institute and the Henry Mancini Institute.