Converse Offers Tribute Concert in Memory of John Turnbull

This Sunday (Nov. 12), Converse College and the American Guild of Organists will present a loving tribute concert in memory of Dr. John Turnbull. The concert, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 4 p.m. in Twichell Auditorium.

Performers include organists Charles Boyd Tompkins (Furman University), Leon Couch (Converse College) and Brennan Szafron (Church of the Advent); pianists Ruby Morgan (Furman University) and Douglas Weeks (Converse College). The Spartanburg Festival Chorus will also perform.

Dr. Turnbull served on Converse’s Petrie School of Music faculty from 1978 until his unexpected death in May. He also served as organist and choirmaster at the Episcopal Church of the Advent in Spartanburg.

A native of Frederick, OK, Dr. Turnbull held degrees in organ and piano from the University of Oklahoma and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music. While a student at Eastman, he was awarded the Performer’s Certificate and the Artist’s Diploma, the school’s highest awards for excellence in performance. He went on to study organ and harpsichord at the Amsterdam Conservatory as a Fulbright Scholar in the Netherlands.

Dr. Turnbull was a winner of the Southwestern Regional Organ Playing Competition of the American Guild of Organists and appeared as recitalist at many of the organization’s conventions.