Donald Johnston

Donald Johnston (1944-2001) was music director and/or arranger on more than a dozen Broadway shows, including Tony Award winners 42nd Street and Nicholas Nickelby. He also wrote arrangements and orchestrations for productions at the Goodspeed Opera House and for Entirely Sophie, produced in Delaware and Florida. He served as orchestrator for Destination Broadway, presented at the World Financial Center in 1996. His musical scores for the ABC public service series “Children First” were heard regularly on national TV. Also active as a jazz pianist and composer, he produced five albums of instrumental and vocal music. He performed regularly at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York and toured the U.S. and Europe many times as soloist and with various ensembles. He received his B.A. and M.M.A. degrees in piano and composition from Yale University. He also provided the musical direction, continuity and arrangements for The Melody Lingers On.