By Gerard Flanagan, news writer/photographer/social media, Office of University Communications
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky.—Ed Johnson, assistant band director for the Campbellsville University Tiger Marching Band and concert band director, has been selected to participate in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on Jan. 1, 2022.
Johnson has worked at Campbellsville University since August 2019. He also serves as assistant athletic band director, where he oversees band members who perform at Campbellsville University sporting events.
As part of the parade, a custom-designed animated float will lead Johnson and a group of approximately 300 band directors from across the nation.
The parade’s theme is, “America’s band directors: We teach music. We teach life.”
A press release announcing Johnson’s selection said, “The extraordinary dedication and accomplishments of band directors are well known to their students, to parents and to schoolteachers and administrators. No matter where they teach and work—public and private schools, colleges and universities, the military, community bands—dedicated music educators and leaders work long hours to not only teach and direct music, but to teach life itself. Students’ lives in particular are positively changed by a motivational leader who taught, inspired and mentored them.”
Johnson is also director of the color guard for the Tiger Marching Band and designs the band’s drill. He will also help lead the Campbellsville University Winterguard Program, which will have its inaugural season starting in January 2022 in the Southeastern Color Guard Circuit (SCGC).
Before coming to Campbellsville University, Johnson was band director at Hart County High School for 30 years before retiring in 2019.
During his tenure at Hart County High School, his concert bands received numerous Distinguished Ratings at the Kentucky Music Educators Association (KMEA) District and State level assessments as well as various concert assessments across the country. The Hart County Marching Band, under Johnson’s direction, was a two-time state finalist and a 24-time semi-finalist at the KMEA State Marching Band Championships. Other accolades for his band include being a two-time Bands of America (BOA) Class A Regional Champion and a BOA Grand National Championship Semi-Finalist. Johnson was also the director of the Hart County Winterguard, which received numerous awards in SCGC and Winter Guard International (WGI). In 2015, Johnson created the WINDS program—the first of its kind in the Commonwealth of Kentucky—at Hart County. The group was a three-time WGI World Finalist and Class Champions in SCGC.
Johnson was named the KMEA 4th District Band Directors Association High School Teacher of the Year for the 2018-2019 school year. He was a recipient of the Hart County High School Teacher of the Year award for the 2018-2019 school year and a recipient of the Hart County Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year in 2016. He was inducted into the SCGC Hall of Fame in 2020.
Johnson, a native of London, Ky., received a Bachelor of Music Education from Eastern Kentucky University in 1987 and a Master of Music Education from Western Kentucky University in 1995. He is a 1982 graduate of Laurel County High School.
He resides in Munfordville, Ky., with his wife of nearly 34 years, Carolyn, who is also a retired music educator from Hart County Schools. They have two children, Cynthia and Cameron; and a granddaughter, Adleigh.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 12,000 students offering over 100 programs of study including Ph.D., master, baccalaureate, associate, pre-professional and certification programs. The website for complete information is www.campbellsville.edu.