Music Wall of Fame

Dr. Sheila L. Johnson is a native of Dayton, Ohio. She received a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Arts (Counseling) degree from Western Kentucky University. While at Western Kentucky University she studied voice under Professor Ohm Pauli and was initiated into the WKU chapters of Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity and also Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Dr. Johnson served as the director of WKU’s gospel choir, the “Amazing Tones of Joy.” Dr. Johnson earned two doctorate degrees; a DMin from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh. Her 30+ year career in higher education is a culmination of work experience that took place at five different colleges/universities. A few of the positions she has held over the years were professor, department chair, and division head.

Although Dr. Johnson began her love of music as a violist who sang in her church’s children’s choir, she is now known as an international recording artist. “Freedom”, her original composition and one of her nine recordings, debuted at #9 on the USA Billboard Hot Singles Sales Chart. “Freedom” also garnered the #1 slot for 4 consecutive weeks on the international radio chart in England, Nigeria, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Dr. Johnson's tours have captivated audiences in the USA, the West Indies, Germany, Mexico, and Italy. Several of Dr. Johnson’s compositions and arrangements have been sung by high school, university, church, and national convention choirs. She uses varying musical styles i.e. gospel, rap, choral, anthem, folk, Negro Spiritual, and ballad in her compositions and arrangements.

When the Afro-American Music Institute (AAMI) of Pittsburgh opened in 1983, Dr. Johnson was a member of the founding faculty and the only female on the faculty. In addition, in 2020, Dr. Johnson was unanimously elected as the first female president in the almost 100 years of existence of the Baptist Ministers’ Conference of Pittsburgh and Vicinity.  Dr. Johnson is grateful to God for every opportunity he has provided.