It wasn’t hard for Brian Johnson to pick out proud moments experienced over his 31 years as Austin High School’s choir director.

And you can be sure one of them will be the performance of his Austinaires and Choralaires in their spring show that begins tonight for a three-day run at Christgau Hall.

It will be the last of their spring shows with Johnson at the helm. The 59-year-old will retire at the end of this school year.

And while the choirs will sing at different venues between now and graduation, the annual show is something special.

And to Johnson, every one of the students is special, too.

“Every time we rehearse, we ask ourselves. ‘How can we make things better? The choreography better, the singing better?’ And we’ve been really focused on developing stage presence.”

Preparation for the show keeps a director busy — and Johnson will stay busy until the end of the school year.

“That’s a good thing,” he said. “It’s been almost too busy to think, ‘It’s the last time I’ll do this.’”

The first time he stepped in front of his Austin singers was in 1987, following four years as a K-12 director in Gaylord, Minnesota. Johnson, a graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, followed Sue Gregg in the post.

“It was a chance to grow a program; and Austin has had a strong tradition in music — and Austin really supports its music programs,” he said.

This year, he conducts a mixed choir, treble choir and concert choirs for grades 9-12 in addition to the Austinaires and Choralaires, which are audition choirs.

“It really has been a privilege and I always felt like I had to take responsibility for carrying on that tradition of excellence —the tradition of giving the opportunity to students they might not otherwise have. I — and my fellow music instructors (band director Christoph Dundas and orchestra director Gene Schott) believe music always starts with the kids. We’re facilitators, trying to engage and help develop that love of music, love of performing, love of ensemble.”

It has worked, over and over again. Hundreds of his students have participated in All-State, received high ratings, or have been part of special trips and invitation-only performances.

Now, he and his wife, Deb, will turn to the open road. Travel is important. When asked where he wanted to go, he quickly responded, “Where don’t I want to go?”

He will also continue to give private lessons, he said, which he also enjoys. He and Deb have one son, Ethan, who will graduate from St. Olaf College this year.

As he looks back, he counts his choirs’ two featured performances at Orchestra Hall – one in 2000, the other in 2011 — as being highlights of his time in Austin, but he gets more emotional when speaking of his students.

“Of their willingness to connect with the community; or when I hear their stories and realize the role  music has played in their lives,” he said.

“The connection they have made when we’ve gone out to places like St. Marks to sing … that’s when I really notice it. They don’t just go off when they’re done, they reach out into the audience and talk to the residents. I am so proud of them,” he said, his voice hitching.

He recalled one of his former students, working as an RN at a Mankato nursing home, telling him about her chat with a resident living there. Both the nurse and resident realized they were Austin natives.

“Then the student decided she would offer to sing the Austin High School fight song with the resident, and so they sang together. It just brightened the resident’s day — she couldn’t stop talking about it,” Johnson said.

“Those are the stories I’ll remember,” he said. “Those are the things that will stick with me.”