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. Turner has performed internationally as a soloist and clinician. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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. The Freden International Music Festival in Germany commissioned Turner to compose a brass quintet titled Ricochet, 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), Palisades Virtuosi (Vathek), the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (Concerto for Horn and Orchestra "The Gothic"), and the horn sections of the Houston and Dallas symphonies (The Bronze Triptych). 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, The Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the Chicago Symphony, 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
Karankawa - Symphony orchestra
Concerto for Low Horn & Chamber Orchestra - Horn, chamber orchestra
Les Heroes - Large brass ensemble, percussion
Concerto for Brass Trombone (or Tuba) & Orchestra - Brass trombone (or tuba), orchestra The Labyrinth - Brass ensemble, percussion Postcards from Lucca - Wind ensemble Sonata for Horn & Strings - Horn, string quartet or string orchestra Symphony Nr. 1 - Symphony orchestra with chorus Symphony Nr. 2 - Chamber orchestra Celestials of Sago Lane - Chamber orchestra, 2 percussion soloists Karankawa - Symphony orchestra, or symphonic band, or wind ensemble Concerto for Brass Trombone - Brass trombone or bass tuba, orchestra Introduction & Main Event - Horn quartet, symphony orchestra, wind ensemble ’Twas a Dark and Stormy Night - Version for 2 horns, string orchestra