John Turner News and Blog

Composer John Turner was chosen to participate in New York’s New Dramatist/Nautilus Music-Theater Workshop held at New Dramatists in Manhattan February 23 - March 10, 2008. He was chosen among 4 other composers and 5 other writers and performers. Workshop participants were paired in “round-robin” fashion and required to compose a new music-theater piece in 48 hours.

Participants included:

Led by:

Ben Krywosz
Roger Ames

Composers:
John Turner
Lynda Dowdell
Edward Ficklin
Julia Meinwald
Marisa Michelson

Writers:
Rinne Groff
Jason Grote
Victor Lodato
Taylor Mac
Daniel Reitz

Actor-Singers:
Manoel Felciano
Gabrielle Stravelli
Charles Temkey
Rosemary Loar
Eleanor Taylor

John recently completed the score for the upcoming film You Belong to Me. The score features strings by the NYC powerhouse string quartet Ethel. Ethel will also perform a suite of the film score at their concerts in the Fall of 2007. The film, to be released in early 2008, premiered at Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco in June and Outfest in Los Angeles in July, 2007. You can hear tracks from the film, read more about the film, score, and Ethel by clicking the links below.

John Turner
You Belong to Me
Ethel

New York, NY (October 15, 2005) - John was awarded an artist residency at La Napoule in southern France from November 7th - December 16th. He will be one of ten Resident Artists of different nationalities and disciplines (literature, music, dance, design, film, visual and performing arts) particitpating. La Napoule Art Foundation offers Artists-In-Residence a unique environment of interdisciplinary collaboration and creativity at the Château de La Napoule near Cannes. Check back for a daily blog of John’s France adventure.

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Ned Rorem Award For Song Composition was recently awarded to 6 finalists. The composers awarded as finalists for the Ned Rorem Award are:

Up-Hill–JOHN TURNER, Brooklyn, NY
Go, Lovely Rose–RICHARD RICE, Alexandria, VA
Ferry M–J. BRUCE ASHTON, Ooltewah, TN
Go, Lovely Rose–HENRY KIHLKEN, Port Clinton, OH
Mother, I Cannot Mind My Wheel–CALVIN BOWMAN, Olinda, Victoria, Australia

Of the 320 entries recieved, 31 of the finalist pieces were perfomed at the Diana Barnhart American Song Competitions and Conference in Wayne, Pennsylvania (February 25-27, 2005). The adjudicators for the four competitions included: Diana Barnhart, Dr. Jeffrey Fowler, John Harbeson, Peter Homans, Raymond K. Johnson, Libby Larsen and Paul Sperry.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (December 15, 2003) - Essentially Choral, a reading session co-sponsored by VocalEssence and the American Composers Forum and supported by the Jerome Foundation, provides a unique opportunity for talented emerging composers to write for choral ensemble with instrumental accompaniment. This year, 35 composers from 18 states submitted scores for consideration, and five works were selected to be “read” at the third annual Essentially Choral session taking place in Minneapolis in January 9-11, 2004.

The participating composers and their works-in-progress are:
John Turner (New York, NY): Not All, Only a Few Return
Jesse Ayers (Canton, OH): The Seventh Seal
Ben Yarmolinsky (New York, NY): Psalms for Jerusalem
Edward Zeliff (Upland, CA): God Thoughts
Greg Schaffner (St. Paul, MN): Five Settings of “Amen”

“Because of the expense of working with such a large force of professional musicians, few composers will ever have the opportunity to hear their compositions performed during the process of writing the music. Essentially Choral gives these composers a chance to discover what works best — and what needs to be changed — in a supportive environment,” says Faith Rynders, VocalEssence director of education and community partnerships.

“It is invaluable for a composer to be able to work closely with professional performers and an experienced conductor during rehearsals to hone a work, learning subtle techniques that will make the music more effective and more performable,” writes participating composer Jesse Ayer