RobsHouse.net

It is with great pleasure that I introduce a new website, KerryTurner.com. Kerry Turner is without question the most significant composer for the horn of his generation. This website documents his compositions, his work as a hornist, the American Horn Quartet, and much more.

I first heard of the American Horn Quartet in 1994, shortly after they released their first album. I was visiting Lowell Greer when he put on a CD and told me that the colleagues in Europe were changing the way things were done, horn-wise. As most any hornist is upon hearing the quartet for the first time, I was floored and in awe.

What impressed me about the CD more than anything was that the pieces by Kerry Turner were exciting and fresh - full of American imagery and 100% fun to play on the horn. This was a feeling that was widely shared among all of my fellow students at the university. Every new album and every new piece from Kerry created an even greater sense of excitement among horn players. Horn playing was no longer something akin to a living museum where the only things worth playing were 100 years old. Here was an American writing great music that we could relate to emotionally. This was very valuable in motivating us to strive for excellence in our studies.

After I moved to Europe I had the great honor to have quite a bit of contact with the American Horn Quartet, as Charlie Putnam and Geof Winter live here in Bonn. They have been immensely helpful, contributing greatly to my career development as a horn player, right up until the time when I sold my horns and learned to make websites.

Needless to say, when the opportunity came to help Kerry create his website, I was thrilled. It has been a fun project, and I hope that in some small way I’ve been able to show my gratitude to Kerry for giving us hornists the treasures of his pieces and recordings. Hornists are so damn lucky that Kerry didn’t play trombone!