"Johnson's works are emotionally compelling and thought provoking. A fresh voice for contemporary melodic music."

                                          -Drew Zaremba

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"The [Clarinet Sonata] is...a wonderful new piece for the clarinet repertoire."

                                          -Andres Felipe Jaime

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Mikaela has performed with many and varied groups, including the Bear Lake Winds, UNCO's Spectrum Jazz Orchestra, the Quincy Symphony Orchestra, the CWU Flute Choir in joint concert with Maria Newman, and an extremely eclectic ensemble at the Guinea Pigs in Bowties Concert during the 2019 Bowdoin International Music Festival.

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Mikaela has performed internationally in Canada and Europe and is also an active composer. Recent notable performances include UNCO's Open Space Festival with composer in Residence Chen Yi, UNCO's production of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, and Puccini's Suor Angelica. Her compositions have gained international recognition and are being performed across the world. Her musical language can best be described as a mixture of tonal and post-tonal, or emotionally driven with a hint of strangeness.

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Mikaela grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where she earned her Bachelor's degree in Flute Performance from Central Washington University (Hal Ott). She later moved to study at Western Illinois University for her Master's degree (John McMurtery). After some time performing and studying with Terri Sanchez, Mikaela is now in her final year of Doctoral studies in Flute Performance (James Hall) with an emphasis in Composition.Other flute teachers include Linda Doria and Sophia Tegart. She has studied composition with Paul Elwood, Drew Zaremba, Paul Paccione, and James Romig. She served a teaching assistant for both the flute and composition studios, and is a member of the Bear Lake Graduate Winds, the premier chamber wind group at UNCO.