Spotlight
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Vernard Johnson, internationally renowned gospel saxophonist
Alumni profile
If you asked Dr. Vernard Johnson (BME 1970), he’d probably tell you he’s led a blessed life, and with good reason. Johnson has long been hailed as the world’s greatest gospel 
saxophonist, and now it’s official: Johnson was inducted into the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame in October 2008, making the Lenexa resident the first instrumentalist to receive that honor.
Johnson’s interest in gospel music began at a young age, for an unusual reason: asthma. He felt excluded from many of the activities his peers enjoyed and turned to music as an outlet, pleading with his parents to buy him a saxophone. Even in music, his asthma posed challenges, but Johnson recalls his aunt’s encouraging advice: “‘You don’t have enough wind to blow the saxophone, but I know someone who has enough wind to blow through you.’” Johnson recounts a miraculous conclusion: “Two weeks after I started playing those gospel songs, I played ‘Amazing Grace’ until I passed out. When I came to, a voice said to me, ‘Check your lungs.’ That asthma was gone.”
While Johnson’s graduate training was at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he holds Emporia State University in high esteem for the early honing of skills, encouragement, and direction it represented in his career. “Dr. Nixon was very instrumental,” said Johnson. “And Dr. Fleisher, my saxophone instructor, played a great part in my life.” It was ESU faculty who encouraged Johnson to apply to Southwestern Baptist. “It was the biggest seminary in the world – I didn’t know that at the time, I just knew it was somewhere I could continue with my music,” said Johnson. “Around the same time, I got a record contract… I’ve accomplished a lot since I left Emporia, but Emporia was the ground basis.” Even after his first record, Johnson experienced early resistance to the gospel saxophone. His recordings were not played on the radio for some time, but acceptance slowly came.
Johnson has performed for several religious and world leaders over his career, from Billy Graham to the presidents of the United States, Liberia, and Kenya, and he has been recognized as an honorary citizen or been presented with keys in cities throughout the South and Midwest. He has formed full symphony orchestras and still composes for that arrangement, and he authored A Thousand Times, Thank You. He was named to the Black Hall of Fame for Outstanding Churchmen and Who’s Who in the South and Southeast, and in 1991, he was tapped as an ESU Distinguished Alumnus.
Johnson considers his induction into the Gospel Hall of Fame a great honor. “It’s one of the greatest honors I’ve ever received, because it simply says that your peers recognize you as doing something great,” said Johnson. But the music means even more, and he has great faith in the transformative power of heartfelt music. “I think the most fulfilling thing is seeing lives changed all over the world. If you keep sincerity in your music, you can reach them. That sincerity draws people from all walks of life.”
- by Dirk Mcbratney (BA 2007, MA 2009)
Last Updated July 29, 2009