Kris Johnson is a Detroit-based trumpeter, composer, arranger, film composer, and educator whose work spans orchestral commissions, musical theater, film scoring, and contemporary jazz. His recent commission from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Marlowe’s Wings, premiered in 2025 with Johnson as the featured soloist. He has composed the musicals Jim Crow’s Tears and Hastings Street, scored the Emmy-nominated series King Ester, and produced a range of personal creative projects that include The Kris Johnson Group and #looptherapy. He is also the founder and director of the Paradise Theatre Big Band in partnership with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

As a performer and arranger, Johnson has contributed to seven Grammy-nominated albums, including the 2024 Grammy-winning Basie Swings the Blues by the Count Basie Orchestra. From 2008 to 2019, he toured internationally with the Basie Orchestra as both soloist and arranger, performing at major venues such as the Apollo Theater, Hollywood Bowl, Sydney Opera House, and Kennedy Center. His collaborative work extends to artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Tony Bennett, Wycliffe Gordon, and Leslie Odom, Jr. In 2023–2024, he toured globally with Endea Owens and The Cookout, further highlighting his versatility across musical settings.

Johnson currently serves as assistant professor of jazz trumpet at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. A graduate of Michigan State University, where he earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, he has held leadership and teaching roles across the country. His previous positions include director of jazz studies at The University of Utah, project director of a US Department Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination grant with the Pontiac school district in Michigan, education and digital programming manager of the Motown Museum, and executive director of Michigan State University’s Community Music School–Detroit. He has also served on the faculties of The Ohio State University and Detroit Symphony Orchestra Civic Youth Ensembles, and is an artistic liaison for JazzEd Detroit.