Choir Director

Shellie Johnson

Shellie Johnson, West Lafayette Unitarian Universalist Church pianist since June 2009, has performed as solo and collaborative piano recitalist throughout the United States and Latin America. She received a Bachelor of Music Degree in piano performance from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico and a Master of Music Degree in piano performance from the University of Maryland at College Park, where she studied piano with Thomas Schumacher and Anne Koscielny and accompanying with Robert McCoy.

Shellie also works as an accompanist with the Lafayette School Corporation and with the Bach Chorale Singers Concert and Youth Choirs. Recently, she has appeared in recitals of the Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society and in the St. John's Noon Recital Series. While teaching piano and keyboard harmony at St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer recently, she performed in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana (piano duo and percussion) and accompanied a number of vocal recitals.

In the past, Shellie has been an accompanist at Eastern Kentucky University, University of Richmond (Virginia), Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond Ballet (Virginia), The Institute of Culture of Puerto Rico, Ballets de San Juan, the Interamerican Festival of the Arts (Puerto Rico), Opera de Cámara (Puerto Rico), Theatre IV (Richmond, Virginia), Thalia Spanish Theatre (New York City), and Actors Guild of Lexington (Kentucky). As a rehearsal accompanist, she has worked with Joel Sachs and Guenther Schuller, in the preparation for premiere of new works by Roberto Sierra and Alfonso Aponte Ledée, respectively. Collaborative recitals include vocal and instrumental recitals at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Manhattan School of Music and Spanish Institute in New York. Ms. Johnson has also given solo recitals at the Ponce Art Museum ( Puerto Rico), the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library ( Washington, D.C.), Los Andes Auditorium ( Mendoza, Argentina ) and others.

Also a singer, Ms. Johnson currently sings with the Lafayette Chamber Singers and has sung in the past with the Bach Chorale Singers, James River Singers and St. Cecilia Choral Society. She played Lady Thiang in Civic Theatre's The King and I, and occasionally directs music in musical theatre productions. She lives in Lafayette with her husband, Steve Koehler and their three children.