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This thesis provides a historical account of the career of Miles “Mity” Johnson. Johnson taught music for thirty-seven years at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. During those years, he led the St. Olaf Band to national and international prominence. Johnson’s professional influences traverse his work as a collegiate band director, and horn recitalist and teacher, as well as his contributions to professional development for conductors and the adult community band movement. This research draws heavily on archival materials from the Shaw-Olson Center for College History at St. Olaf College along with several personal collections, including Johnson’s own private collection. Oral interviews with family members, colleagues, and former students supplemented archival materials. Johnson’s career spanned the second half of the twentieth century, a period that witnessed important growth in repertoire, professional development, and other areas in the concert band field, and this thesis highlights his reactions and contributions to those changes. Chapters explore Johnson’s family, education, and military background; followed by details of his public school and St. Olaf College teaching career. Examining the areas of domestic and international touring, concert programming, and horn teaching during Johnson’s tenure at St. Olaf reveals significant contributions to the band field. Also included are Johnson’s numerous guest conducting engagements at All-State band performances and the Vestfold Summer music camp in Norway. Research on Johnson’s establishment of the Minnesota Instrumental Conducting Symposium (MICS) and the Minnesota Symphonic Winds (MSW) adult community band, give further insight into Johnson’s broader contributions to the wind band profession.

abstract: The purpose of this study was to collect specific data concerning the use of financial resources from extant adult community bands that are members of the Association of Concerts Bands (ACB). An adult community band is defined as an ensemble consisting primarily of amateur adult woodwind, brass, and percussion performers, the majority of whom are not satisfying school, college, or military requirements through participation. This investigation comprises two main parts: 1) a perusal of the development of adult community bands within the overall history of bands in the United States, including, when possible, financial aspects of their operations; and 2) an examination of financial trends in ACB organizations, as illustrated by survey data. An electronic survey was designed to examine six questions: 1) what are the budgets of today’s community bands, 2) how do bands compensate their staff and personnel, 3) where are bands spending their money, 4) what are their sources of income, 5) how are their current financial trends different than Peter Martin’s 1983 study on community bands, and 6) are there trends in regards to their expenses, revenues, bands’ longevity, and locations? In order to make more accurate conclusions, the author divided bands into five classes, based on their financial structure, to analyze and compare data. Five major trends were observed: 1) current adult bands are usually non-profit organizations that list monetary compensation for their conductors on their Annual Operating Budget (AOB), 2) fifty-four percent (54%) of bands with an AOB spend between $4,000 and $19,999, 3) after adjusting for inflation, monetary compensation has remained nearly the same over the last thirty-four years, 4) music is the most common expense among adult bands, and 5) since 1983, the number of bands reporting government funding as a revenue source has decreased. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2017