On Friday 31st March and Saturday 1st April 2023 leading recorder player John Turner (OS 1961) will be hosting concerts at St. Paul's Church in Heaton Moor to mark his 80th Birthday. All Old Stopfordians are very welcome to attend.

The programme on 31 March will start with Purcell songs and the Mozart Oboe Quartet and that on April 1st with a Handel recorder sonata and the Mozart Clarinet Quintet. Other items will be Music by several composers with whom or whose music John has had close associations. John Joubert’s Remember, in memory of my adored mother, will be in the first concert. Ian Thompson will play Bach on the organ before and after each concert.

Entry to the concerts will be free with a retiring collection to be divided between the St Paul's Church and The Royal Society of Musicians (TBC). There will also be a free substantial buffet, kindly provided by Shelley of Kauri Fine Foods.

To book please contact Carroll Co-Trustee Ronnie Vasey at ronvasey@gmail.com so numbers are known for catering purposes.

Abour John Turner:

John Turner is one of the leading recorder players of today. Born in Stockport, he was Senior Scholar in Law at Fitzwilliam College Cambridge before pursuing a legal career, acting for many distinguished musicians and musical organisations including the Halle Orchestra, the Royal Northern College of Music and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, alongside his many musical activities. These included numerous appearances and recordings with David Munrow’s Early Music Consort of London, the Academy of Ancient Music, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and the English Baroque Soloists.

John once noted:

At SGS I was particularly influenced by the Latin Master Donald Roberts, who started and ran the school recorder group, and the eccentric but wonderful Douglas Steele, formerly Sir Thomas Beecham’s assistant, whose own compositions continue to be a source of delight to me and many others.  Douglas Steele’s moving songs are now examination pieces for the Associated Board, which would have given him great pleasure.

John now devotes his time to playing, writing, reviewing, publishing, composing and generally energising. He has played as recorder soloist with the Halle Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Manchester Camerata, and many other leading orchestras and ensembles.

Concertos and works with orchestra have been written for him by Gordon Crosse, Anthony Gilbert, Peter Hope, Kenneth Leighton, Elis Pehkonen, Alan Bullard, Ian Parrott, John Casken, and many other distinguished composers.

John’s recordings include no less than five sets of the Brandenburg Concertos, as well as the F Major version of Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 with Menuhin and George Malcolm, but lately he has made numerous acclaimed recordings of the recorder’s contemporary concerto and chamber music repertoire, including four solo concerto discs, all of which have received critical acclaim. 

To read more about John's works click here.