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Jeff Johnston

Jazz pianist, orchestrator, film composer, educater

About Me

Jeff Johnston is a pianist, composer, and educator whose work bridges jazz, classical, and film music with effortless clarity and emotional depth. Over several decades, he has led acclaimed ensembles and performed or recorded with leading artists including John Abercrombie, Slide Hampton, Kenny Wheeler, Sheila Jordan, and Dave Liebman. Jazz Times has praised his music as “contemporary cutting edge... immediately and immensely satisfying,” a description that reflects both his adventurous spirit and his lyrical sensitivity at the piano. From 1990 to 2025, he lived in Montreal, where he built a prestigious career as a bandleader, sideman, film composer, and educator. He released seven albums under his own name and taught jazz piano and composition at McGill University.

In 2025, Johnston received a JUNO Award for his orchestration work on Deantha Edmunds’ Classical Composition of the Year, adding to multiple JUNO and ECMA nominations recognizing his recordings and work as a bandleader. His contributions extend beyond the stage and studio: as a film composer and former board member of the Screen Composers Guild of Canada, he has played an active role in shaping and advocating for Canadian screen music.

Johnston studied jazz piano and composition with Richie Beirach in New York City and later earned a Master’s degree in Orchestration for Film, Games, and Television from Thinkspace Education/University of Chichester. He is currently an assistant professor at St. FX University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, where he brings his experience as a performer, composer, and orchestrator to the next generation of Canadian musicians.