Headshot for Craig Johnson

Craig Johnson

Craig was born in Sydney, NSW, but calls Canberra home. He enlisted into the Australian Army in 1977,
and served in a number of Army Bands prior to graduating from the 1990/91 Band Officer Course at the
Defence Force School of Music, where he was commissioned and awarded the Commanding Officer’s
Prize for the Best Conductor. After graduation, he served in several command appointments including
Officer Commanding RMC Band, Commanding Officer/Chief Instructor of the Defence Force School of
Music, and Commanding Officer Australian Army Band.

During his service, Craig undertook operational deployments to Bougainville, East Timor and the
Solomon Islands, and on representational duties led select Army Bands for performances for ANZAC Day at Gallipoli, Turkey; the Basel International Tattoo in Basel, Switzerland; and to Le Hamel, France and Ypres, Belgium to support Centenary of ANZAC ceremonies.

A recording project Craig made at the behest of ABC Radio Perth, has featured in two ABC Classic FM
compact disc releases: “Strike Up The Band” and “The Classic 100: Music In The Movies”.

In Canberra theatre he has led the orchestras for productions of Beauty and the Beast, Grease, The Boy from Oz, Hello, Dolly, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Westside Story, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and he has undertaken advanced orchestral conducting study in Varna, Bulgaria and Venice, Italy.

Productions