MILWAUKEE — Inside the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, one musician stands out. He is part of a new program called the Fellowship in Teaching Artistry.
Mikhail Johnson is the recipient of the new fellowship. He is an accomplished pianist and composer. He has performed with the Jamaica Symphony Orchestra and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance.
The fellowship has two main goals: supporting early career Black and Latine classical musicians and making classical music more accessible to under-served Milwaukee Public School students. The goal is to address the overall lack of diversity in the classical music industry. Johnson also offers private lessons at the conservatory.
“I feel it’s a way for people of color not only be represented in the realm of the field of education and also the field of performance," Johnson said.
The conservatory's fellowship is making the whole classical music industry more equitable. Johnson goes into schools and as an interim teacher until a full-time music teacher can be hired.
"Provide the highest quality of music education, especially to those schools that have been disenfranchised which are predominantly of people of color," Johnson said.
It goes way beyond just the language. As teachers who look like their students, they make classical music more relatable.
“They see it on YouTube. Very often they look at the orchestras - nobody looks like them or barely, so to have persons in real-time be that inspiration to them and let them know hey if you’d like to pursue this it is something that you can do," Johnson, the pianist and composer, said.
Beyond teaching, the fellowship provides early-career professionals with the next step in their musical journey.
"From a very young age, we weren't able to afford it, and by the time we've really, as it were, pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps and gotten to a point of proficiency, a lot of these prestigious events and opportunities have become aged restricted," Johnson, 34, said.
According to a 2023 study from the League of American Orchestras, only 4.8 percent of orchestral musicians were Latine and less than 2.4 percent were Black.
“And for us people of color, very often it’s very hard to even get a foot into the door because we hadn’t gotten that early training from a very young age. We weren’t able to afford it," Johnson said.
Classical instruments are pricey and lessons are expensive. Johnson said that his financial constraints growing up slowed his musical progression compared to his peers and those who had more money for instruction.
"But it's a way in which we can really close that gap that has been for a very very very long time been only given to those who are privileged to get into the best schools, privileged to have financial support, privileged to be able to, as it were, be nepotized [sic] into the world of the music industry," Johnson said.
This fellowship addresses that disparity and lifts up the next generation of classical musicians.
Eventually, the conservatory will add another fellow. You can learn more about the fellowship or apply at the conservatory's website.
You can hear Mikhail Johnson's music at these links: Website, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
