Conductor, Performer, Director of Bands Dan Turner inducted into American Bandmasters Association
March 30, 2017
Dr. Daniel Turner, professor and Director of Bands at Bob Jones University, was inducted into the American Bandmasters Association at the annual convention in Lexington, Kentucky, March 8-11, 2017. Founded in 1929 with John Philip Sousa as honorary life president, the American Bandmasters Association has a membership of about 300 band conductors and composers in North America. The association’s goals are to recognize “outstanding achievement in the field of Concert Band and its music” and pursue “an increasingly higher standard of artistic excellence for the Concert Band, its performers, conductors, and literature.” Membership is by invitation only and nominees undergo a rigorous review of their live concerts, as well as a ballot vote by the association’s membership. Turner is one of nine band directors from South Carolina to be inducted into the ABA since the association’s founding.
“I began my career in music more than forty years ago,” said Turner, “and I never imagined so long ago that I would be able to stand alongside so many amazing conductors and composers from America’s rich heritage of concert band performances. I think back over the many mentors I’ve had over the decades and I’m very humbled over all the time and encouragement they gave me. I’m also very grateful for my sponsors — that they would consider me for membership means a great deal to me. But always, I have to give first place to all the students I’ve conducted, who have poured their hearts, their talent, their energy, and hard work into music. As I’ve found over years of travel, teaching, conducting, and performing in numerous venues, the language of music is universal and it can bridge many barriers if given a chance.”
Turner’s nominator was Dr. Les Hicken, Director of Bands at Furman University. Other sponsors were Dr. John Locke, Director of Bands at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Dr. Stanley Michalski, Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Music and Conductor of Bands at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. William Malambri, Emeritus Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Winthrop University and Principal Conductor of the Carolinas Wind Orchestra.
Besides his university duties as professor of music education and private tuba, Director of the Symphonic Wind Band, and Director of Instrumental Activities, Turner serves as president of the Gingery-Mack Music Scholarship Fund, a non-profit organization that awards financial aid to outstanding music students. As a performer in one of the more uncommon wind instruments, Turner is in demand as a tubist in various public venues, and plays in the Foundation Brass Sextet as well as in the Anderson, South Carolina chamber orchestra. He is also active as a conductor at numerous band clinics and festivals in the South and Midwest. Besides his membership in the ABA, he is a member of the National Association for Music Education, The South Carolina Music Educators Association, the National Band Association, and The College Band Directors National Association.
Turner received both his doctorate and his MS in music education from the University of Illinois; he received a bachelor’s degree in music education from Bob Jones University. In 2013, Turner received a Citation of Excellence from the National Band Association for his contributions to bands and band music.
For more information on the Gingery-Mack Music Scholarship Fund, to learn more about Turner’s conducting and tuba performances, or to simply chat about music, connect through linkedin.com/in/danielturnerconductor/ or at [email protected].
