Yolanda F. Johnson has had an outstanding career as a performing artist, as an educator, and as a supporter of the arts.  A native of Omaha, Nebraska, she began studying classical piano at an early age.   Soon after, Yolanda’s vocal talent was discovered when she joined the choir at her grandfather’s church.  Yolanda began her first classical vocal study at age nine and began composing at twelve.
She completed her B.A. in voice performance at the University of Tulsa. Yolanda then attended the University of Akron where she completed her M.A. in Arts Management.  She returned to Tulsa and became the Acting Executive Director of the Barthelmes Conservatory of Music.  She also served on the faculty of Tulsa Community College as a Voice and Humanities instructor.
Yolanda has performed nationally and internationally in several musical venues including opera, concert, oratorio and sacred music.  She is an active recitalist/lecturer on many musical subjects, specifically spirituals as related to the Underground Railroad.   Yolanda made her New York City debut as Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and has performed in many venues and with various companies in New York City and the Tri-State area.  She recently portrayed the role of Anita Hill in Ben Yarmolinsky's Clarence and Anita with Underworld Productions Opera Outreach, Noemie in Massenet’s Cendrillon with New York Lyric Opera and Millie in the new opera by Nkeiru Okoye, Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed that Line to Freedom.
Yolanda is a member of the Sigma Alpha Iota International Women’s Music Fraternity.  She is a lead singer in the music ministry at the First Baptist Church of Tarrytown.  She is on the artist roster of Sing for Hope and Musicians on Call, where she has used her vocal talents to entertain hospital patients, and has been a featured presenter at Performing the World International Performing Arts Conference.  In addition to her life as an artist, Yolanda is also the Representative for the Foundation for Post-Conflict Development to the United Nations, where she eventually hopes to explore how the arts can be used to help nations heal, post-conflict.

Throughout 2012, Yolanda will appear in a new recital series, “An Evening of Inspired Song with Yolanda F. Johnson” with the Warner Library in Tarrytown, NY, sponsored in part by ArtsWestchester.