Jessica Johnson serves on the piano faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as Assistant Professor of Piano and Director of Graduate Studies in Piano Pedagogy. In 2006, she was the recipient of UW-Madison's prestigious Emily Steiger Distinguished Teaching Award. Johnson has formerly been on the faculties of Augustana College (Illinois), Sterling College, and the Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts.

In addition to her love for the standard keyboard repertoire, Johnson frequently commissions and programs contemporary solo and chamber works. Recent performances include Frederic Rzewski’s monumental The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, William Albright’s Five Chromatic Dances and Olivier Messiaen’s Visions de l’Amen for two pianos, with Midori Koga.

An active clinician, she has given workshops and presentations at the European Piano Teachers Association International Conference (Madeira, Portugal), the World Piano Pedagogy Conference, three featured presentations at MTNA National Conferences (2001, 2005, 2006), as well as held residencies at major universities and colleges throughout the United States, and in Canada and China. Johnson has articles published in American Music Teacher, Keyboard Companion, Piano Pedagogy Forum and Piano Adventures Teacher Newsletter.

Johnson received the MM in Piano Performance and DMA in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Michigan, where she was the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, including the "Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award" for the entire university, and a graduate merit fellowship. She holds the BM in Piano Performance, magna cum laude, from East Carolina University. Her principal teachers include Arthur Greene, Charles Fisher, Donna Coleman, and piano pedagogy studies with Joanne Smith and Kerry Carlin.