Kerry Turner Explained

Kerry Turner (born October 16, 1960) is an American composer and horn player. Turner is a recognized name in the horn and brass industry. Turner’s major ensembles with whom he performs include the American Horn Quartet, the Virtuoso Horn Duo, and the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra.[1] Turner has performed internationally as a soloist and clinician.[2] Turner also sings tenor in a semi-professional octet.

Life

At age 11, Kerry Turner won the San Antonio Music Society Composition Competition. At 17, he was awarded a scholarship to attend Baylor University after winning the Baylor composition contest.[3] Turner transferred to the Manhattan School of Music and received a Fulbright scholarship to study with Hermann Baumann at the Stuttgart College of Music and Performing Arts upon graduation. He placed fifth at the Geneva International Horn Competition and won the Bronze Medal at the 39th Prague Spring International Music Competition.[4] In 1983, Turner assumed the position of principal horn of the Gürzenich Orchester, Cologne. In 1985, Turner joined the Radio-Tele-Luxembourg Symphony Orchestra and the American Horn Quartet.

Turner's compositions have been commissioned by many organizations, including the United States Air Force Heritage of America Band, the Luxembourg Philharmonic, the Japanese Horn Ensemble, and the Richmond, Virginia Chamber Music Society. His works have been awarded top prizes at the International Horn Society Composition Contest and the IBLA Foundation.[5] Turner received the Meir Rimon Commissioning Assistance Fund from the International Horn Society in 1993 to compose Six Lives of Jack McBride for horn, violin, tenor voice, and piano and again in 2004 to compose Scorpion in the Sand for horn, cello, and piano.[6]

Turner's Quartet Nr. 1 won first prize in the International Horn Society's composition contest. Quartet Nr. 3 was awarded a prize in the International Horn Society composition contest in 1996.[7] The Freden International Music Festival in Germany commissioned Turner to compose a brass quintet titled Ricochet,[8] which become one of Turner's most successful works.

Several notable commissions include the U.S. Air Force "Heritage of America" band (Postcards from Lucca), the Alexander Horn Ensemble Japan (Ghosts of Dublin), the Brass Ensemble of the Symphony Orchestra of Lyon (The Heros), the Luxembourg Chamber Orchestra (The Celestials of Sago Lane),[9] Palisades Virtuosi (Vathek),[10] the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (Concerto for Horn and Orchestra "The Gothic"),[11] and the horn sections of the Houston and Dallas symphonies (The Bronze Triptych).[12] Turner's music, which contains elements of folk music from the British Isles, a Mexican influence combined with his own western American style, and the sounds of North Africa and the Arab world, has been performed and recorded by chamber ensembles from the New York Philharmonic,[13] The Berlin Philharmonic,[14] the Vienna Philharmonic,[15] and the Chicago Symphony,[16] among others.

Turner has been a guest lecturer in composition at several institutions of music, including the Royal Academy of Oslo, the Academy of Fine Arts in Hong Kong, the Nero House of Music in Osaka, Japan, West Virginia University and the Winterthur Hochschule für Musik in Switzerland.

Works

Large ensembles

Chamber works

Solo works

Notes and References

  1. Reel, John (2010). "A Conversation with Hornist-composer Kerry Turner". Fanfare Magazine, Vol. 33 Issue 5, page 146
  2. Scanze, Philip (2013). "Performance Practice Concerns in Kerry Turner's 'The Casbah of Tetouan' for Horn Ensemble. Ball State University.
  3. (2011) "Kerry Turner: Ricochet". MSR Classics Independent Classical Record Label. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  4. (2014) "American Horn Quartet". Naxos; The World's Leading Classical Music Group. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  5. (2010) "Kerry Turner". Kendall Betts Horn Camp. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  6. http://www.hornsociety.org/about-the-ihs/composition-projects/commissions "Commissions"
  7. (2011) "Chamber Music of Kerry Turner". MSR Classics Independent Classical Record Label. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  8. Pritchett, Kate (2014) "The American Horn Quartet (Kristina Mascher, Geoffrey Winter, Charles Putnam, and Kerry Turner) Performed at the Freden International Music Festival in Germany in August". The Horn Call, Feb 1 2014, International Horn Society, HighBeam Research. Retrieved 12 Jun. 2014.
  9. (2014) "Orient & Occident - 3". Orchestre de Chambre du Luxembourg. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  10. http://www.sequenza21.com/calendar/2014/02/palisades-virtuosi-presents-musical-tales-concert-on-march-1-at-unitarian-society-of-ridgewood-new-jersey/ "Palisades Virtuosi Presents Musical Tales Concert on March 1 at Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, New Jersey".
  11. (2014) "2012-13 Premieres List". League of American Orchestras. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  12. (2014) "Texas Horns / Dallas & Houston Horn Sections". ArkivMusic; The Source for Classical Music. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  13. (2014) "Take 9/The American Horn Quartet". ArkivMusic; The Source for Classical Music. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  14. Werden, David (2014) "Berlin Philharmonic Horns - The Ghosts of Dublin". David Werden Publications. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  15. Rodriguez-Bohannon, Mariela "Recording Recommendations" . River City Brass. Retrieved June 12, 2014
  16. Burtin, Louise (2013) "Exclusive: Chicago Symphony Orchestra Trombonist Michael Mulcahy Talks Brass Tributes to Bud Herseth, Edward Kleinhammer". Classicalite. Retrieved June 12, 2014

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Kerry Turner".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.