Zoe Johnstone
Zoë Johnstone Stewart is a performer, educator, and arts administrator in the Baltimore area. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Guitar Foundation of America, where she leads the organization's operations, development strategies and program implementation. She also serves on the guitar faculty at the Peabody Preparatory and teaches Guitar Pedagogy at the Peabody Conservatory. From 2019–2025, she served as Chair of the Preparatory Guitar Department, where she oversaw curriculum development, faculty mentorship, and projects such as the Guitar Performance Academy, Fret Fest, and the Summer Guitar Intensive, as well as multiple commissioned and premiere performances by composers Benjamin Verdery, Thomas Flippin, and Leo Welch, performed by Preparatory students.
A dedicated and experienced educator, Zoe maintains a thriving studio of individual students and ensembles through her private teaching practice and the Peabody Preparatory. A Suzuki-trained educator and active performer, she provides engaging, high-caliber instruction to students as young as four, building a strong foundation for continued growth into advanced levels while nurturing a lifelong love of the guitar.
A sought-after guest clinician and lecturer, Zoe has presented masterclasses and workshops at the Eastman Community Education School, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, the Levine School of Music Winter Suzuki Workshop, the Hoff-Barthelson Music School, and the Guitar Foundation of America’s National School Summit. In recognition of her outstanding teaching, she received the Suzanne Seff Kuff Excellence in Teaching Award from the Peabody Preparatory in 2023.
She has performed extensively throughout the northeastern United States as a soloist and collaborator in various chamber ensembles. As a founding member of the Atlantic Guitar Quartet, she has appeared with the Rochester Classical Guitar Society, Baltimore Classical Guitar Society, Great Lakes Guitar Society, Marshall University, Loyola University, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and as Artist-in-Residence at the Engineers Club at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion. Recent solo engagements include a concerto appearance with the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra, outreach performances for Marlow Guitar International, a four-week residency with the Baltimore County Public Library, duo performances with oboist Emily Madsen on the Naval Academy Band Recital Series, and the world premiere of Storied by Edmund Scott Miller as part of the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society's "Made in Baltimore" 30th Anniversary Commission Concert.
Prior to her work at Peabody, Stewart founded the Evergreen Academy of Talent Education, a Suzuki guitar program in the Baltimore area. She remains an active clinician, adjudicator, and mentor, contributing regularly to educational initiatives and leadership programs that support the next generation of guitarists. She holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, the University of Rochester, and the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University.