David R. Johnson

JOHNSON-David R. a long-time music educator in the Northport school system and recently at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, died Sunday after a long illness. He was 66. Dave was best known for his belief in the beauty of choral music and its effect on young people. He was particularly fond of the barbershop quartet art form, and encouraged young men and women to engage in it at every opportunity. After serving 23 years in the Northport school system, where he was known as "The Pied Piper of Northport Music," he joined the Five Towns College faculty, where he was Director of the Vocal Workshop and Vocal Studies. He was so successful coaching quartets there that he sent students to appear in nine successive annual International competitions put on by the Barbershop Harmony Society (SPEBSQSA). As one of his students said of him, "He inspires and motivates every student that he comes across." His life-time goal was to create, at the college, a choral group made up of current and past students that would become a chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society. He achieved that goal in early 2002, and his singers...known as the Long Island Sound...went on to become Small Chorus Champions of the Mid-Atlantic District of the International Society in 2002 and, this year, Small Chorus Champions of the Columbus, OH, Buckeye Invitational, where they bested similar size choruses from across the country. A gifted soloist, with a distinguished career with the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Virtuosi and Bethpage Singers, he was happiest singing in barbershop quartets. He sang in championship quartets in Ohio, where he received a BA from Baldwin-Wallace and a Master's degree in education from Kent State, and in New York, where he continued his education at Long Island University, Brooklyn and Hunter Colleges, and received an Honorary Doctor of Music Degree from Five Towns College in 2002. He directed men's barbershop choruses in Canton, OH, as well as the Huntington Soundsmen and the Long Island Sound. He also directed a women's barbershop chorus from Dix Hills, the Island Hills Sweet Adelines. He is survived by his beloved Virginia; his daughters Sarah Johnson and Geraldine Tortoreci; son Daniel Johnson; sister Mary Kay Pope; and brother Paul Johnson. A Memorial Service will be held in his honor at Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, on Friday, September 26 from 7 to 10 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the Five Towns College Chapter, SPEBSQSA. Donations should be sent to P.O. Box 126, Huntington Station, NY, 11746.