About Us
In 1981, Lee & Dianne Turner founded their own publishing company, TurnerSong. TurnerSong offers a number of octavos (choir selections), two musicals, and solo piano cassettes and CDs and a book of piano arrangements by Lee.
In 1999, Lee & Dianne were pleased to have one of their TurnerSong octavos, Glory, Hallelujah, Jubilee! chosen by Cliff Barrows to be sung by the Billy Graham Crusade Choirs in Indianapolis and St. Louis. They were delighted when Mr. Barrows used it again with the Crusade Choir in their hometown for the Jacksonville Billy Graham Crusade November 2-5, 2000 in Alltel Stadium. Another TurnerSong octavo, Let God Love You, was sung by the choir in several Billy Graham Crusades in 1984 and 1985.
Lee & Dianne are members of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). They have won an award from ASCAP every year since 1974. Lee is proud to be listed in the following publications:
* Marquis Who's Who in Entertainment
* The International Who's Who in Music (Volume Two, Popular Music)
* Marquis Who's Who in Religion
* Dictionary of International Biography (Cambridge England)
Lee and Dianne Turner are natives of Jacksonville, Florida. They both have attended church since childhood and were baptized at Main St. Baptist Church. They met as teenagers on a church outing and were sweethearts at Andrew Jackson High School. They married while Lee was an Advertising major at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
While at the University of Florida, Lee was pianist for The Dream Weavers, who had a popular twice-weekly radio show and performed at personal appearances. In 1955, the group recorded It's Almost Tomorrow, written by members Gene Adkinson and Wade Buff. On January 1, 1956, The Dream Weavers performed the song on The Ed Sullivan Show in New York City. The song spent 22 weeks on the charts where it reached the top ten. Another song, Into the Night (music by Lee, words by Wade Buff), was recorded by the group that year and reached number 82 on the charts.
After graduation, Lee and Dianne moved to Louisville, Kentucky where Lee graduated with a degree in music from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Lee was a full-time minister of music for nearly 30 years. He served Calvary Baptist (Clearwater, FL), Main St. Baptist (Jacksonville), Jacksonville Beach First Baptist, and San Jose Baptist (Jacksonville). While at First Baptist Jacksonville Beach, Lee wrote an arrangement of Amazing Grace that was published by Broadman, and has been sung by choirs all over the country. He also wrote a tune/arrangement for the Old Irish Blessing May the Road Rise to Meet You that has been extensively used, and is in the Choir Suppliment for The Baptist Hymnal (1991).
In the early 1970s, Lee met Dick Blanchard (then pastor of First United Methodist Church, Jacksonville, and writer of Fill My Cup, Lord). They wrote a number of songs together, including Who Moved?, which was recorded and sung in concerts by George Beverly Shea. Meanwhile, Dianne discovered her talent for writing lyrics. Most of their songs have lyrics by Dianne. The Turners moved to Nashville for two years where Lee played piano and sang on studio sessions, created piano reductions from orchestrations, transcribed music from recordings, and wrote and arranged music.
He transcribed music and wrote arrangements for songs by artists including Bill and Gloria Gaither, Dallas Holm, Buryl Red, Gary S. Paxton, Don Marsh, Rick Powell, and Sam Pottle. In Nashville, the Turners got a chance to experience the music publishing and recording business first hand. Lee did a collection of choir arrangements, Sunshine In My Soul, that included his Amazing Grace and May the
Road Rise to Meet You. He and Dianne wrote a musical, The Church that God Built with Love, which is widely used by adult and youth choirs. They also wrote popular children's musicals They All Sang 'Jesus', and Great Men of God.
Today, Lee and Dianne have settled in Jacksonville, where they are members of Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church, and have three grown sons and four grandchildren. When they aren't taking care of TurnerSong or writing songs and arrangements, Lee is in constant demand as a pianist for all kinds of events in Jacksonville and surrounding areas.
In 1981, Lee & Dianne Turner founded their own publishing company, TurnerSong. TurnerSong offers a number of octavos (choir selections), two musicals, and solo piano cassettes and CDs and a book of piano arrangements by Lee.
In 1999, Lee & Dianne were pleased to have one of their TurnerSong octavos, Glory, Hallelujah, Jubilee! chosen by Cliff Barrows to be sung by the Billy Graham Crusade Choirs in Indianapolis and St. Louis. They were delighted when Mr. Barrows used it again with the Crusade Choir in their hometown for the Jacksonville Billy Graham Crusade November 2-5, 2000 in Alltel Stadium. Another TurnerSong octavo, Let God Love You, was sung by the choir in several Billy Graham Crusades in 1984 and 1985.
Lee & Dianne are members of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). They have won an award from ASCAP every year since 1974. Lee is proud to be listed in the following publications:
* Marquis Who's Who in Entertainment
* The International Who's Who in Music (Volume Two, Popular Music)
* Marquis Who's Who in Religion
* Dictionary of International Biography (Cambridge England)
Lee and Dianne Turner are natives of Jacksonville, Florida. They both have attended church since childhood and were baptized at Main St. Baptist Church. They met as teenagers on a church outing and were sweethearts at Andrew Jackson High School. They married while Lee was an Advertising major at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
While at the University of Florida, Lee was pianist for The Dream Weavers, who had a popular twice-weekly radio show and performed at personal appearances. In 1955, the group recorded It's Almost Tomorrow, written by members Gene Adkinson and Wade Buff. On January 1, 1956, The Dream Weavers performed the song on The Ed Sullivan Show in New York City. The song spent 22 weeks on the charts where it reached the top ten. Another song, Into the Night (music by Lee, words by Wade Buff), was recorded by the group that year and reached number 82 on the charts.
After graduation, Lee and Dianne moved to Louisville, Kentucky where Lee graduated with a degree in music from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Lee was a full-time minister of music for nearly 30 years. He served Calvary Baptist (Clearwater, FL), Main St. Baptist (Jacksonville), Jacksonville Beach First Baptist, and San Jose Baptist (Jacksonville). While at First Baptist Jacksonville Beach, Lee wrote an arrangement of Amazing Grace that was published by Broadman, and has been sung by choirs all over the country. He also wrote a tune/arrangement for the Old Irish Blessing May the Road Rise to Meet You that has been extensively used, and is in the Choir Suppliment for The Baptist Hymnal (1991).
In the early 1970s, Lee met Dick Blanchard (then pastor of First United Methodist Church, Jacksonville, and writer of Fill My Cup, Lord). They wrote a number of songs together, including Who Moved?, which was recorded and sung in concerts by George Beverly Shea. Meanwhile, Dianne discovered her talent for writing lyrics. Most of their songs have lyrics by Dianne. The Turners moved to Nashville for two years where Lee played piano and sang on studio sessions, created piano reductions from orchestrations, transcribed music from recordings, and wrote and arranged music.
He transcribed music and wrote arrangements for songs by artists including Bill and Gloria Gaither, Dallas Holm, Buryl Red, Gary S. Paxton, Don Marsh, Rick Powell, and Sam Pottle. In Nashville, the Turners got a chance to experience the music publishing and recording business first hand. Lee did a collection of choir arrangements, Sunshine In My Soul, that included his Amazing Grace and May the
Road Rise to Meet You. He and Dianne wrote a musical, The Church that God Built with Love, which is widely used by adult and youth choirs. They also wrote popular children's musicals They All Sang 'Jesus', and Great Men of God.
Today, Lee and Dianne have settled in Jacksonville, where they are members of Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church, and have three grown sons and four grandchildren. When they aren't taking care of TurnerSong or writing songs and arrangements, Lee is in constant demand as a pianist for all kinds of events in Jacksonville and surrounding areas.