Amanda Johnston enjoys a thriving career as a collaborative pianist and vocal coach. Currently based in Oxford, MS, she is Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Mississippi. She is the Head Coach for the UM Opera Theatre, teaches two courses in Advanced Diction, provides private vocal coaching at the undergraduate and graduate level, and conducts masterclasses in the form of coaching labs. Ms. Johnston is also on faculty at Lied Austria, an intensive international summer programme for singers in Leibnitz, Austria.

Since 2004, she has been Artistic Director of “In Recital”, a Toronto series designed to cultivate the art song and showcase Canadian singers. She was educated at Queen’s University at Kingston, the Hochschule für Musik “Franz Liszt” in Weimar, Germany, and the Janáček Academy of Music in Brno, Czech Republic.

Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Mississippi, Ms Johnston held positions at the University of Toronto, Royal Conservatory of Music, and York University. She has coached and prepared full productions of Carmen, Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Rigoletto, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermaus, L’elisir d’amore, Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica. Bilingual in German and English, she also has a high proficiency in French and Italian.

Ms Johnston has been awarded prestigious grants from both the Canada Council (Performing Arts Grant) and the Ontario Arts Council (Chalmers Professional Development Grant) to work with masters in the field of collaborative piano, most notably Malcolm Martineau, Rudolf Jansen, Martin Isepp, Dalton Baldwin, and Elly Ameling. She has been broadcast on CBC Radio 2 and has performed in Canada, the United States, Germany, France, Austria, and Scotland.

In 2010, Ms Johnston will present a vocal masterclass on German Lied at the University of South Dakota. Upcoming performances are scheduled for Atlanta, GA, Vermillion, SD, Oxford, MS and New Orleans, LA.