Dale Johnson is a man committed to youth, music and education. Conductor of the Tacoma Junior Symphony since 1979 and the Tacoma Young Artists Orchestra since its creation in 1985. Dale Johnson is a man committed to youth, music, and education. Conductor of the Tacoma Young Artists Orchestra since its creation in 1985, Mr. Johnson has continually raised the artistic standard and vision of the Tacoma Youth Symphony Association (TYSA). His adventurous programming challenges and educates the students of the TYSA community. He has worked tirelessly to forge strong ties with the various music offerings in the community. In 1982 he initiated the TYSA sponsored String Orchestra Festival that now annually attracts in excess of 1200 students. He played a major hand in creating and developing the Evergreen Music Festival. Since its inception in 1984 he has continuously taught, conducted, and served as its Associate Director. He also teaches music theory and directs the TYSA chamber music program.
Mr. Johnson helped organize and conduct the Tacoma Sister City Orchestra Festival in 1993 and again in 2006. He conducted the Tacoma Youth Symphony during its European tour in 1983 and in acclaimed Carnegie Hall concerts in both 2000 and 2005.
He received music degrees from Brigham Young University and the University of Washington, where he studied conducting with Stanley Chapple and violin and viola with Donald McInnis. His teaching career has included the Seattle, Federal Way, and Tacoma School Districts. He served as Music Director of the Tacoma Community College Chamber Orchestra for thirteen years.
Mr. Johnson is a retired director of orchestras of Rainier Middle School and Auburn High School, where he served as chairman of the Fine Arts Department. The Music Department at Auburn High School was one of 35 of the more than 22,000 in the nation to be named a GRAMMY Signature School in 2004-05, their fourth GRAMMY award. Mr. Johnson was honored as Public School String Teacher of the Year for 2001 by the Washington American String Teachers Association. Since then he has been highlighted in the School Band & Orchestra Magazine as one of 50 teachers in the nation who make a difference, recognized as music educator of the year in the Green River Music Region, and honored as recipient of the John Binns Award from Friends of the Library at TCC. In 2009 he was named Music Teacher of the Year in Washington State by the Washington Music Educators Association.