A Dekalb County native, Dr. Johnson’s aptitude for music was first discovered as a 7th grader at Wadsworth Elementary School, where he would often stay hours after school to teach himself piano by ear. When the school music teacher realized he was playing Beethoven sonatas, she recommended that he apply to the DeKalb Center for Performing Arts (now the DeKalb School of Arts). Within two years, he was the first-place prize winner in the Greater Atlanta Music Alliance Bach Competition. Soon after, he relocated to Atlanta, where he studied at the North Atlanta School for Performing Arts.  As a student, he represented North Atlanta in many GMEA (Georgia Music Educators Association) auditions and performances, consistently receiving high rankings. He spent several summers studying with pianists Drs. Barbara Lister-Sink and Lita Guerra, as well as performing at the prestigious Brevard Music Center Summer Institute & Festival.

After four years of formal piano study, he was awarded a full Presidential music scholarship to attend Morehouse College. At Morehouse, he studied piano with Dr. Jefferson Ethridge. He performed with the Morehouse College Glee Club, Morehouse Jazz Band, and the Morehouse-Spelman String Quartet. He also participated in masterclasses with renowned pianists such as Awadagin Pratt and Andre Watts. He was a multi-prize winner in the James A. Heffner Piano Competition. A continuous learner and serious piano student, Dr. Johnson currently studies with internationally acclaimed concert pianist Julie Coucheron.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College, Dr. Johnson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music (Piano Performance), a Master of Arts in Musicology (Washington University, St. Louis), a Master of Arts Teaching in Elementary Education (National Louis University-Chicago), and a Ph.D. in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education (Michigan State University). He also holds a School Management and Leadership Certificate from Harvard University and an Urban Education Graduate Certificate from Michigan State University. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the Music Teachers National Association, Georgia Music Teachers Association, Decatur Music Teacher Association, and the National Federation of Music Clubs.   

In his spare time, Dr. Johnson enjoys supporting the arts, spending time with his wife and kids, and engaging in community service with his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. 

Taylor began taking drum lessons at ten and later graduated from the Atlanta Institute of Music. Contributing to original projects such as Old Hopes, Spirit Healer, and Self Absorbed (solo project) and doing fill-in work in Atlanta and the surrounding areas. Taylor has developed a unique sound and a process for quickly and efficiently learning material and strategies for practice to ensure students see consistent growth in their playing. Taylor loves seeing a passionate student grow and realize that all goals are achievable with training and a little direction.

Alicia Taylor has been playing piano since just prior to her fourth birthday. She grew up in a very musical family, and her parents were music professors at the University of Arkansas, Missouri Southern State University, University of Southern Mississippi, University of Louisiana at Monroe, William Carey University, and Auburn University, among others. Alicia has served as a church musician since the age of 12. Her first compensated position was playing piano and accompanying the choir in a small Baptist Church in Monroe, Louisiana. Alicia also learned to play violin and flute quite proficiently (principal second violin with the Auburn University Symphony Orchestra while in high school and as a flute soloist with the Seattle Symphony while in high school), but piano has always been her primary instrument. 

She has twice sung in Carnegie Hall, performing the Robert Ray GOSPEL MASS under the baton of Dr. Eric Nelson, Director of Choral Studies at Emory University; and performing The Sounds of War and Peace: A Great and Glorious Victory under the baton of Jonathan Willcocks, the son of Sir David Willcocks. Alicia has served churches all over the country (Washington, New York, North Carolina, and Georgia). 

Since moving to Georgia in 1995, she served as a part-time staff singer at various churches in Metro Atlanta and full time as Director of Music at Norcross Presbyterian Church, Director of Worship and Arts at Johns Creek Presbyterian Church, and most recently as Director of Music and Worship Arts at Covington First Presbyterian Church. She is now serving as the pianist/accompanist at Wesley Methodist Church in Covington, Georgia. Alicia maintains a small piano studio at Johns Creek Presbyterian Academy of Fine Arts, a ministry she founded in 2009.

She has been teaching piano for nearly 30 years and loves to share the joy of making music with students of all ages. Alicia is the mother of four grown children and grandmother to two grandsons and one granddaughter. She resides in Covington with her dog, Molly.