Karen George is the orchestra director at Johnson High School in San Antonio, Texas. Mrs. George studied violin at the University of Southern Mississippi with Stephen Redfield where she earned a bachelor's degrees in both Violin Performance and Music Education. She then attended University of Texas at Austin where she studied violin under Vincent Frittelli and received a Master of Music Education with a minor in conducting.

Mrs. George has also toured with several orchestras in Europe including the American Institute for Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria. In addition to her teaching job, she conducts one of the seven orchestra ensembles for the Youth Orchestra of San Antonio and performs in the Corpus Christi Symphony.

Mrs. George opened Johnson High School in 2008. In its very first year, the Johnson Forza orchestra won the Music in the Schools competition earning a $5,000 grant. Since then it has continued to excel, earning “Sweepstakes” at UIL competitions every year in both string and full orchestras. The Johnson full orchestra has been a finalist three times at the TMEA Full Orchestra competition and in 2013, the string orchestra was a finalist in the String Orchestra competition. The Johnson Orchestra was invited and performed at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago in December 2016 and the full orchestra was invited to perform in December 2022.

Patrick Cheney is in his 7th year of teaching and first at Johnson High School. He has taught music at Canyon High School in New Braunfels, TX and Fredericksburg Middle School in Fredericksburg, TX. He is thrilled to be a part of the Johnson High School Music Department in the role of Assistant Orchestra Director and Assistant Band Director.

Mr. Cheney received his Bachelor of Music Education from McMurry University and holds certifications in music and dance education. While at McMurry, Mr. Cheney won the McMurry Concerto competition twice, marched drum corps with the Bluecoats, and founded a chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, Nu Delta. When not teaching, Mr. Cheney spends time with his four dogs and enjoys a good cup of coffee.