“This experience is a wonderful opportunity for me to work with others who share similar interests while representing the Western Carolina University music department and related programs at an international professional conference,” Johnson said.

The conference will take place July 16-22.

Johnson, who earned his bachelor’s degree in music education in 2000 and his master’s degree in commercial and electronic music in 2006, will present his original composition “Kebebasan” (“Freedom”). It was composed for Balinese gamelan (an orchestra of tuned percussion instruments) and recorded this spring with students in Western’s Low Tech Ensemble under the direction of Joy Shea, instructor of music, and Will Peebles, professor of music and interim head of the department.

Johnson also will give a lecture on the subject of DVD authoring, a skill he developed in his studies with Western’s Belk Endowed Professor in Commercial and Electronic Music, Bruce Frazier. “These two projects illustrate the diverse scope of Western’s music department,” Johnson said.

Johnson’s friends and colleagues in gamelan “gunung biru,” a group of WCU faculty and graduates, are helping raise money for his trip.

For more information, contact the music department at (828) 227-7242.