Cynthia Johnston Turner is an active conductor, festival adjudicator, and clinician, in both the United States and Canada. Before joining the Cornell faculty in the fall of 2004, she taught at the University of Rochester, where she directed the Wind Symphony and served as Director of Music at Parkside High School, Dundas, Canada. Earlier in her career Cynthia taught middle school beginning instrumental music in Toronto and choral music in Switzerland. She currently serves as a faculty member with the summer Performing Arts Institute at Pennsylvannia's Wyoming Seminary and as a guest conductor with the Syracuse Society of New Music.
A Canadian, Cynthia completed her Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education degrees at Queens University and her Master of Music in music education and conducting at the University of Victoria. Touring with her ensembles inspired her master's thesis on the musical and personal transformations that occur on tours, and her D.M.A. thesis at the Eastman School of Music centered on Dialogues and Entertainments by William Kraft, one of this generation's leading composers. At Eastman Cynthia was the recipient of the Eastman Graduate Teaching Award in conducting. She was nominated for the Canadian Prime Minister's Leadership in Teaching Award and received the National Leadership in Education Award (Readers Digest Foundation), the Excellence in Education Award (Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation), and the Marion Drysdale Leadership Among Women Teachers Award (also from OSSTF).
At Cornell, Cynthia is the Director of Wind Ensembles, overseeing the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Chamber Winds, and other chamber ensembles. She also serves as faculty advisor to CU Winds, a student-governed organization devoted to the promotion and performance of wind music. She has commissioned numerous new works for wind band, many of which incorporate other artistic media, and continues to actively promote commissions by today's leading composers.
Photo: Robert Barker, Cornell University Photography
