Ken Turner
Ken Turner (Apalachin, NY) has an extensive background in music education and the marching arts. He served as Band Director at Tioga Central Schools (NY) and as Director of Music for the Johnson City Central School District (NY), where the music program was recognized as a Grammy Signature School and named one of the 100 Best Schools in America for Music Education. He served as music arranger, program coordinator, instructor and consultant for many well known bands and drum corps, including The Long Island Grenadiers, Empire State Express, Etobicoke-Oakland Crusaders, Empire Statesmen, Syracuse Brigadiers, Bayonne Bridgemen, and Phantom Regiment, as well as the New Hartford, Johnson City, Jamestown, and Green Valley marching bands. He has served as an adjudicator and clinician at numerous local, state and national concert band, percussion, marching band, and drum corps events in the U.S., Canada, and Japan. Turner was Music and Brass Caption Chairman for Drum Corps Associates, the New York Federation of Contest Judges, and Drum Corps International, and served as a member of the DCI Task Force and the DCI 2000 Strategic Planning Committee. He has also served as Chief Judge and Judge Administrator for the New York State Field Band Conference and Drum Corps International and has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of both organizations. Turner was a member of the National Advisory Board for the Partners in Education Program at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and served as a member of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) congressional advocacy group. He also holds a U.S. patent for the angled shell drum kit and marching percussion instruments and is the President and CEO of ErgoSonic Percussion, LLC (ErgoSonicDrums.com). Turner currently serves on the board of directors for the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra, recipients of the 2025 American Prize for Orchestra. He and his wife, Suzanne, currently live in Apalachin, New York.