[2] Her leadership was credited for bringing the International Alliance for Women in Music increased membership and higher visibility.
[4] Sally Johnston was born in East Liverpool, Ohio, on January 30, 1948, and graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Texas in Austin.
She won a composition prize from Mu Phi Epsilon,[5] a number of American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) awards,[6][4] and first prize at the Fifth International Festival of Women Composers at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1998.
[8] She was a co-editor of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States' newsletter along with Sylvia Pengilly and Mara Helmuth from 1995-1996.
[9] Rome’s Vatican Audience Chamber performed her Jesus, Redeemer, Messiah composition as part of the Roman Catholic Church’s Jubilee 2000 celebration.