T.J. Turner

Dr. T. J. Turner, tenor, was named one of Memphis’s Top 20 Under 35 in 2023. He received positive reviews of his “solid performances” in his professional debut as The Doctor in The Handmaid’s Tale with GLOW Lyric Theatre: Opera Wire described his “crystalline high tenor” as “delightful to listen to.”

Dr. Turner performed in Kristin Chenoweth’s My Love Letter to Broadway at the Lunt- Fontanne Theatre in New York, NY. Notable roles include Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, William Barfée in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Enoch Snow in Carousel, the Baker in Into the Woods, the title roles in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito and Bizet’s Le docteur miracle, Sam in Susannah, and Carlo in the American premiere of Judith Weir’s Armida.

Equally at home on the concert stage, Dr. Turner has been featured as a soloist in performances with Converse University, Limestone University, the Greenville Chorale, and the Herring Chamber Ensemble this season. He has also performed with international stars Andrea Bocelli on tour and Renée Fleming in concert for events with Opera Carolina and Opera Memphis.

Dr. Turner earned the Doctor of Music Arts degree in Voice Performance and Opera Stage Directing at the University of Memphis, where he received the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music Graduate Document Award for his dissertation research, titled The New Messiah: A Neo-Baroque Approach to Ornamentation in the Performance of Paul Ayres’s Messyah. He holds degrees from the University of South Carolina and Furman University and has presented guest lectures and master classes at Clemson University, Furman University, and Georgia College.

Dr. Turner is currently Lecturer of Music at Lander University and Teacher of Voice and Piano at the Lawson Academy of the Arts at Converse University.

Website: https://www.toddjaredturner.com/