Jeff Turner
Jeffrey Turner enjoys a multi-faceted career as an educator, orchestral musician, chamber musician, soloist, and conductor.
A dedicated teacher, Turner currently serves as Professor of Double Bass at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He also holds the position of Distinguished Artist at the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University. Turner served on the faculties of Carnegie Mellon University and Duquesne University for nearly three decades. He was as an adjunct professor at Duquesne University (1988–2017), where he served as Director of Orchestral Activities (2011-2016), String Department Chair (1995–1999) and Artistic Director of the City Music Center’s Young Bassist Program. He also held the position of Artist Lecturer in Double Bass at Carnegie Mellon University from 1989–2011. He also held the position of Artist Lecturer in Double Bass at Carnegie Mellon University from 1989–2011.
Turner has also served as a visiting professor at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Maryland and as resident artist for many annual educational festivals, including the Pacific Music Festival, the National Orchestral Institute, the National Youth Orchestra (USA), the Korsholm Festival (Finland), and the Asian Youth Orchestra (Hong Kong).
Turner currently holds the Principal Bass position with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center. As principal bassist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Turner served thirty-one seasons under music directors Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, and Manfred Honeck. He was the principal bassist of the New American Chamber Orchestra from 1984–1986 and played with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for the 1986–87 season. He has performed with many distinguished American orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
Turner has performed as a chamber musician at many of the world’s most prestigious venues, including the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, the Korsholm Festival (Finland), and the St. Bartholemy Music Festival (FWI).
As winner of the Y Music Society’s Passamaneck Award, he appeared in a critically acclaimed recital at Carnegie Music Hall in 1989. He was also a winner of the 1990 Pittsburgh Concert Society’s Artist Award. He regularly appears in recital at venues throughout North America, Asia, and Europe.
Turner has appeared often as a soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, including in world premieres of Thomas Newman’s double bass concerto Ward’s Ferry and Leonardo Balada’s Caprichos No. 4, Mozart’s ‘Per questa bella mano’ with Thomas Quasthof and Mariss Jansons, as well as many of Giovanni Bottesini’s most popular works.
In 2009, Turner completed his master’s in conducting with Dr. Robert Page at Carnegie Mellon University. Turner served as Director of Orchestral Studies at Duquesne University from 2011–2016, where he was conductor of the Duquesne Symphony Orchestra. He has also been Artistic Director of the City Music Center Chamber Orchestra (2004–2008) and Music Director of the Pittsburgh Live Chamber Orchestra (2004–2006). He was Music Director and Conductor of the Pittsburgh Music Academy Orchestra from 1997–2000. He served as Artist Lecturer in Conducting and conducted opera productions at Carnegie Mellon University. Turner has conducted his Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra colleagues in benefit concerts and often serves as a guest clinician conducting high-school orchestras and All-State and Honors Orchestra festivals nationwide.