Pete Johnston was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada, and is the son of a high school music teacher and a Baptist Church pianist. He studied music composition and double bass at Dalhousie University, alternating scholarly endeavours with tours of North America as part of the Johnny Favourite Swing Orchestra, with whom he won a Juno Award in 1999. After completing his studies at Dalhousie in 2000 Pete moved to Toronto and began working as a freelance musician, guitar teacher, novel editor, and telemarketer. Following several lost years in the part-time employment trenches, Pete returned to the academy, completing a Master’s degree in composition in 2005 and a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology in 2009, both at York University. As part of his doctoral research he spent the 2006/07 academic year in London, England, where he performed for Queen Elizabeth II. Since completing his Ph.D. Pete has resumed his work as a freelance bassist and music educator in Toronto, which includes performing regularly with the groups See Through Trio, See Through 5, and Aurochs, and teaching at Ryerson University and Humber College. In 2011 Pete had the great fortune of being awarded a Chalmers Professional Development Grant from the Ontario Arts Council to study with renowned bassists Barre Phillips and Gary Peacock. He currently teaches at Toronto Metropolitan University and University of Toronto
Full CV available here.
Interview
Conducted by Paula Fayerman on Noise, from CJSW in Calgary, Alberta. 12 July 2018.
Education
2010 - Ph.D., Ethnomusicology, York University
2005 - M.A., Music Composition, York University
2000 - B.Mus., Concentration in Composition, Dalhousie University
Teaching Positions
University of Toronto - Sessional Lecturer, 2021-present
Courses taught: Jazz History, Seminar in Jazz Studies, Small Jazz Ensemble
Toronto Metropolitan University - Sessional Lecturer, 2014-Present
Courses taught: History of Popular Music, Music of World Cultures, Social Issues in Popular Music, Global Popular Music
Humber College - Sessional Lecturer, 2014-2021
Courses taught: Critical Perspectives in Contemporary Music, Music of World Cultures, Music in Contemporary Society, Music in Canada
Conductor of the Toronto All-Star Big Band, 2010-2014
Publications
“Teaching Improvisation and the Pedagogical History of the Jimmy Giuffre 3." International Journal of Music Education 31, no. 4 (2013): 383-393
"Labour, Creativity, and the Politics of Profit in the Improvised Music Field." Critical Studies in Improvisation 9, no. 1 (2014)
“Contemporary Compositions for Beginning Jazz Ensemble: A Progressive Method To Teaching Jazz Improvisation and Ensemble Performance Practices” (2006), self-published
Northern Static - Conversations with Canadian Composers (podcast)
Awards
1999 - Juno Award for "Best New Group" as a member of the Johnny Favourite Swing Orchestra
1998 - East Coast Music Award for "Best Jazz Album" as a member of the Johnny Favourite Swing Orchestra for the album The Life Desire
Recordings
As a leader
2023
Stranger Still - The Songs Which Are (All-Set! Editions)
2021
See Through 4 - Permanent Moving Parts (All-Set! Editions)
2020
See Through 4 - False Ghosts, Minor Fears (All-Set! Editions)
See Through 4- Bog Standards (All-Set! Editions)
2019
Stranger Still - Songs of Bread, Wine and Salt (All-Set! Editions)
2016
See Through 5 - Margins (All-Set! Editions)
See Through Two - Slow Bend (All-Set! Editions)
See Through 5 - Utilities (All-Set! Editions)
2014
See Through Trio - Parallel Lights (Woods And Waters)
2012
See Through Trio - Near Northern Static (Woods And Waters)
2009
See Through Trio - Lines and Spaces (Woods And Waters)
2007
See Through Trio - Our Own Devices (independent)
2000
Quatrain - Adamant Shoals (independent)
1997
The Art Ensemble Of Halifax - Exile On The Wayside and Subfield Emissions, independent
As a collaborator
2019
Aurochs - Perdidox (All-Set! Editions)
2016
Aurochs - Another Helpful Medicine (All-Set! Editions)
2014
Aurochs - Rational Animals (Woods And Waters)
As a side player
2011
Muskox - Invocation/Transformations (independent)
AIMToronto Orchestra - Year of the Boar (Barnyard Records)
2009
Muskox - Five Pieces (Standard Form)
2008
Muskox - Gallantries (Woods and Waters)
1999
Johnny Favourite Swing Orchestra - Holiday Romance (Universal Music) - Juno Award winner
Joel Plaskett - In Need of Medical Attention (No Alternative)
1997
Johnny Favourite Swing Orchestra - Life Desire (Lucky Life Recordings) East Coast Music Award winner
Notable Performances
2022
Performed with See Through 4 at IMOO Fest in Ottawa, presented by Improvising and Experimental Musicians of Ottawa and Outwards
Performed with Stranger Still at the Guelph Jazz Festival
Toured Eastern Canada with Stranger Sill, including performances in: Lunenburg, Baxter’s Harbour, Windsor, Halifax, and Great Village (NS), Moncton and Fredericton (NB); and Montague (PEI)
2020
Performed with Stranger Still at the inaugural "Angus Johnston Memorial Lecture" at King's College in Halifax, Nova Scotia
2017
Performed with See Through 4 at the Open Waters Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia
2015
Performed with See Through Trio at the Something Else Jazz Festival in Hamilton, Ontario
2014
Performed at the Music Gallery in Toronto with Aurochs, opening for legendary jazz bassist Henry Grimes
2013
Performed in the premiere of Canadian composer Martin Arnold's piece Mill O.Tifty's. Annie at the Somewhere There Music Festival
2012
Performed with Doc Severinson and the Toronto All Star Big Band
Performed with Muskox and Jeremy Stratchan at the Guelph Jazz Festival
2011
AIM Toronto Orchestra CD release with special guest saxophonist Evan Parker
Performed with Muskox at the JazzEast "Out Like A Lion" festival in Halifax
2010
Performed with SISTER at the Pop Montreal Festival
2009
Performed with Muskox at The Music Gallery, supporting Charles Spearin's. The Happiness Project
2008
Live recording for CBC Radio's The Signal, with Muskox
Summer tour of British Columbia with See Through Trio
2007
Summer tour of Nova Scotia with See Through Trio, culminating with a performance at The Atlantic Jazz Festival, Halifax
2006
Performed for Queen Elizabeth II in London, Il England as part of the Royal Visit to Goodenough College
2005
Performance of Eleven Pieces For Improvising Trio at The Distillery Jazz Festival, the ArrayMusic Studio Leftover Daylight concert series, and at the Tranzac Club
Large jazz ensemble compositions Black River and Flat Earth Suite premiered by the Toronto Jazz Orchestra at the ArrayMusic Studio
2004
Premier of Spiral Glider, for chamber ensemble. Performed by the Continuum Ensemble in the Dacary Concert Hall, York University
2001
Music for the film A Fresh Start by Halifax filmmaker Jason Buxton, which played at the Toronto Film Festival and the Atlantic Film Festival
2000
Premier of String Quartet, Sextet For Strings, and Three Canadian Poems. Performed by members of Symphony Nova Scotia in the James Dunn Theatre, Dalhousie University
Music For Jazz Quartet performed by Quatrain at the Atlantic Jazz Festival, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Music for Being Here, a modern dance work by Toronto choreographer Sally Morgan
Performed at the Banff Centre for the Arts as part of the Summer Jazz Workshop
1999
Performed as a member of the Upstream Orchestra for a series of concerts with Symphony Nova Scotia and Peter Weigold, as part of the Open Waters Music Festival
1995-Present
Frequent performances in clubs, restaurants, concerts and private affairs in jazz, folk, and rock ensembles, often performing my own compositions
Professional Experience
2015-Present
Co-owner/operator of All-Set Editions, a boutique label dedicated to releasing sounds from Toronto's left-field music scene
2013-2016
Artistic Director of the Somewhere There Creative Music Festival
2012-present
Board member and President of Somewhere There Creative Music Presentations
2010
Co-artistic Director of Music(in) Galleries, an annual event that features musicians performing in a series of art galleries in downtown Toronto
2002-2003
Assistant Musical Director and bassist, Ship's Company Theatre, Parrsboro, NS
1996-1999
Musical Director and bassist, Johnny Favourite Swing Orchestra. Performed in many of the major cities in North America
1995-Present
Self employed bassist, composer, and bandleader