David Johnson plays vibraphone, marimba and percussion regularly with the Vinny Golia Large Ensemble, the Kim Richmond Jazz Orchestra, the World At Peace with Yusef Lateef, pianist Roger Williams, Dual Force, the CalArts New Century Players and XTET. He has worked with a wide range of artists including Dave Brubeck, Mel Torme, Maureen McGovern, Green Day, Pierre Boulez, Dean Drummond, Stephen Hartke, George Benjamin and Mauricio Kagel.

Johnson has played in the percussion sections of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Long Beach Symphony, the Santa Barbara Symphony, the Cabrillo Festival, the Ojai Festival, the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood and occasionally in the Los Angeles television and film industry. He has performed with the California E.A.R. Unit, the Southwest Chamber Music Society, the Independent Composers Association, Composers Inc., Pacific Serenade and the Philharmonic New Music Group. From 1974 to 1977 he was in residence at Northern Illinois University with the historic Blackearth Percussion Group. He has recorded for CRI, Opus One, Delos International, Nine Winds, Seabreeze, K2B2, Jazz Harp, Meta YAL, Warner Brothers and New World. He was the winner of the 1995 Percussive Arts Society composition competition with his piece Quartz City for vibraphone soloist and percussion quintet. He was a featured artist/clinician at the 1997 Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Anaheim California. He has been teaching at the CalArts since 1990.