Local songwriter orchestrator, producer, conductor and vocal arranger Willetta Greene Johnson has made strides in gospel music.
She has
arranged music for Mary, Mary, Yolanda Adams, Donnie McClurkin, and Marvin
Sapp. Like the award-winning artists she's arranged for, she has garnered
accolades.
Johnson's
song "Saved" is featured on the 2004 Grammy winning Brooklyn Tabernacle
CD Project: "Live this is your House."
“Saved”
was one of the lead songs on the choir’s CD.
Johnson
said she wrote the song for her mother.
"When
I wrote "Saved" my mother had just passed, it was a situation that
made me reflect, what legacy or gift she gave me. The gift she gave me was
strong faith in God, so "Saved" was written for people going through
difficult situations, conflict resolution."
When
Johnson found out her song was featured on the CD that won she said she was
surprised, because no one writes a song thinking "I'm going to get in the
Grammy atmosphere."
However
it only seemed destined she would enter that atmosphere as her love of music
started at an early age.
Johnson
was born in Delaware in 1957 and raised in Michigan by her parents Betty and
William Greene, two Tuskegee trained scientists with eccentric music taste.
“Growing
up my parents played a lot of different music from classical to Johnny Cash,
Motown and R&B. I grew up being exposed to it and fell in love with it,” said
Johnson.
Her
love of music would soon have her spending years involved in bands and choirs
throughout her school days.
At
Adams Elementary School she was a part of Glee band, and sang alto in the
choir. She wrote her first school song in the sixth grade called "So long,
So Farewell."
In a
high school band competition, instead of playing a piece by someone else she
wrote a concerto that was performed by the school orchestra.
She
received orchestration training at Interlochen, Michigan and was trained on the
piano by Julliard teacher Irene Grau who she described as a very
"demanding but patient teacher."
"I
really wanted to learn to play a piece by Beethoven, so I decided I was going
to show her I was ready, I played the piece in front of some people I messed up
on a couple notes, nobody knew except me and her, I look over and she has this
disapproving look on her face, and it was because she didn't want me to a
person who settles."
Grau
taught her if you're going to do something then do it right, and not to settle
for anything less than your best, she said.
"She
made me more versatile, I can talk to people who know how to sight read, and
those who know chords by ear as an teacher you have to be able to do both"
said Johnson.
Johnson
has also studied the guitar, cello, and clarinet, however, her favorite
instrument is the piano.
"I
write very well for strings, I've been called the strings queen. Strings add
new dimensions to a song without getting in the way," said Johnson.
“I
wasn't very good at the guitar, as an orchestraor and arranger I was glad I had
visited those other instruments to reference in song writing,” she said.
Johnson
is also the founder of StrategicMsuic Inc, musical director of JourneySong, a
worship ensemble she founded, and arranger and choral director at a South Side
church.
As an
arranger and choral director Johnson gets the opportunity to work with
professionals and beginners in the industry, she feels honored to do both.
“I feel
privileged to have worked with these artists and also look for what I can learn
from their own work ethic and dedication. I equally enjoy teaching and
mentoring young singers and helping them find their voice, it brings balance
because I’m able to share that, I can give that back out,” she said.
With
the many hats she wears –– including those of wife and mother –– Johnson knows
she doesn’t do it all on her own.
She
attributes her accomplishments to her faith in God and work ethic instilled by
her parents.
“My
faith in God a strong work ethic, my parents instilled that in me. I don’t
think there’s anything worth pursuing in life if you don’t intend to do well in
it or at least try.”
Despite
her accomplishments Johnson remains humble because she knows “staying in a
place of humility is how you can get greatness.”
She is
a professor of Physics and chemistry at Loyola University, and has been married
to her hair stylist husband, Arnold, for 25 years.
She has
one son named Jeremy who is pursuing a degree in Japanese and political science
at Grinnell College.
Johnson
earned a degree of Physics from Stanford University and Ph.D. in Theoretical
Physics from the University of Chicago.
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
