{"id":3952,"date":"2017-11-26T11:14:10","date_gmt":"2017-11-26T11:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybirminghamgospel.com\/staging\/9111\/?p=3952"},"modified":"2017-11-26T11:14:10","modified_gmt":"2017-11-26T11:14:10","slug":"modern-day-godfather-college-gospel-choirs-kevin-p-turner-retires-music-videos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybirminghamgospel.com\/staging\/9111\/modern-day-godfather-college-gospel-choirs-kevin-p-turner-retires-music-videos\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern Day Godfather of College Gospel Choirs Kevin P. Turner Retires | Music & Videos"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Kevin P. Turner, native of Peoria, Illinois, ended a successful 22 years leading the internationally known UAB Gospel Choir<\/a> this year (2017).\u00a0His contribution to music is a testament to his fight to secure gospel music as a respected genre in academia.<\/p>\n

The Study of American Gospel Music<\/em> and Music Business <\/em>are courses that he has taught\u00a0in the UAB School of Music after decades of successful independent releases. He has also supported the African-American Studies program at the University with a course he designed called the History of Gospel Music<\/em>. His research appears in the curriculum of the Birmingham City Schools cultural diversity programs (Gospel Anthology I & II); The Music Educators National Conference (Making Connections: Multicultural Music and the National Standards). He also holds degrees from Anderson Theological Seminary\u00a0and Saint Thomas Christian College.<\/p>\n

Aside from these academic achievements, his\u00a0work as a performer and producer has had an enormous impact within the genre of gospel music.<\/p>\n

Take a look and listen to some great moments in his years with the UAB Gospel Choir as we take a trip down memory lane.<\/p>\n

\"Kevin<\/a>Eventhough the choir began in 1978<\/a> and lasted until 1988 as the Echoes of Faith<\/em> under Dewayne Davis, Turner quickly began working on training the choir to be recording and performance ready and making it unique from any other music group in the region after its founding by GRAMMY award winning music department head Dr. Henry Panion. He was appointed\u00a0to the position in 1994.<\/p>\n

The choir’s first recording under Turner, “Live<\/a>” (1997)\u00a0was recorded\u00a0with 38 singers in 1996 and soon hit gospel music charts internationally with “Everybody Ought to Know” on Tyscot Records. The project reached #3 in Canada and\u00a0was in rotation across the U.S. on radio. The video for “Magnify” also played on the\u00a0growing BET network.<\/p>\n

In 1997, the Birmingham News<\/em> noted the choir as a “driving force on the local music scene,” performing with 150 singers by the time the first recording was released. Due to the success and word around town about dynamic rehearsals, the choir’s attendance reached 200 and had to be restricted to registered UAB students. Gospel singers Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Erick Matthews and Daryl Coley were also guest artists being backed by the choir during this era. They were also a crowd-pleaser at the city of Birmingham’s world-class music festival, City Stages<\/em> and led a two-day gospel music workshop in 1999 about the\u00a0recording and commercial radio industry.<\/p>\n