Stephen Johnston

Emphasizing traditional aspects of jazz music through a synthesis of bebop, blues and the American songbook, and influenced by the masters of the mid-twentieth century such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Herbie Hancock or Wayne Shorter, Stephen Johnston's writing is also colored by the work of recent trendsetters like Seamus Blake, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Chris Potter, Remi Bolduc and Joe Lovano.

Born and raised in Ottawa, Stephen Johnston began his musical education at the age of six. Studying paino for several years, he switched to trumpet, then euphonium in junior high school, finally ending up on the guitar.

Studying privately, Stephen was exposed to jazz music through playing in the high-school stage band. Following graduation from Glebe Collegiate Institute, Ottawa, he entered Concordia University and began studies with Dave Turner, Charles Elllison, Andrew Homzy, Simon Stone, Gary Schwartz, Bill Coon, Wray Downes, and Mike Berard. During this time, the award winning and successful Panache was formed featuring himself, brother Paul Johnston on acoustic bass, and Adam Broughton on vocals. The group would go on to tour festivals, be featured on television and radio, shoot videos, and grace countless high society functions.

In 2000, Stephen moved to London, UK and performed in London and Frankfurt, Germany before his return to Montreal and his entrance to McGill University’s Master’s program in jazz performance. There he studied with Jan Jarczyk, Joe Sulllivan, Gordon Foote, Remi Bolduc.