Ava Johnson is a passionate cellist, chamber musician and new music advocate who strives to empower and uplift performers of the classical arts.

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As a soloist, Ava has performed with the Young Artist Chamber Players with conductor Jack Ashton, playing the Vivaldi Double Cello Concerto. Ava toured Europe with the group, soloing on Saint-Saens, La Cygne (the Swan) in 6 different countries starting in Budapest, Hungary and ending in Paris. Ava was additionally selected as a soloist in Salt Lake City, Utah for Skyline High School’s Annual Concerto Night Showcase, playing the Elgar Concerto.

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An avid chamber musician, Ava has attended chamber festivals across the US including Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Vermont, Castleman Quartet Program in New York, and Hidden Valley Institute for the Arts directed by Mark Kosower, Principal Cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra in Caramel Valley, California.

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As an orchestral musician, Ava was selected among four other cellists in the state to play with the Utah Symphony in a side-by-side all-star feature of music from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Ava has moreover played as the section leader of the Bow Art Ensemble, a string orchestra under the baton of Colorado Symphony’s Principal Violist, Basil Vendryes.

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An advocate for new music, Ava has premiered Andrew Dewey’s Contemplation 21 for three cellos and steel drum, and Alex Niederberger’s trio under commission for oboe, percussion, and cello called Coalescence, Shady Grove.

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Ava is a current double major at the University of Denver studying Cello Performance and Public Policy.

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Ava plays on a rare Swiss instrument made by Bischoff Berger in 1948 and on generous consignment from Gregory Singer violins in NY, New York.