Jerry Junkin

As the longtime conductor of the Dallas Winds and as a faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin, Jerry Junkin is one of the most prominent American wind ensemble conductors. More unusually for the American wind orchestra genre, his success has extended to international venues and to major conducting positions abroad. Junkin was born in Victoria, in south Texas, in 1956. His father was the band director at Victoria High School, and when the younger Junkin attended college at the University of Texas in Austin, he became heavily involved with the school's bands and was named Assistant Director of Bands there immediately after graduating in 1978. He went on to positions at the University of South Florida and the University of Michigan, maintaining ties with the latter state through summer conducting and teaching work at the Interlochen Arts Academy in later years. In 1988, he joined the faculty of the University of Texas as a professor and conductor of the school's wind ensemble, and he was later named head of the music school's conducting division. He teaches conducting and wind band literature. He led the UT Wind Ensemble on international tours in 1992 and 2008 and has made two appearances with the group at Carnegie Hall in New York. Junkin has recorded with both the UT Wind Ensemble and with the Dallas Winds, of which he became conductor and artistic director in 1993. Two years later, he made his recording debut with the UT Wind Ensemble, Arnold for Band, on the Reference Recordings label, and he has continued to record for that label. Since 2003, Junkin has been conductor and music director of the Hong Kong Wind Philharmonia, and he served as principal guest conductor of Japan's Senzoku Gakuen College of Music Wind Ensemble. He has also held several ongoing guest conductorships in East Asia. Often championing contemporary music and performing world premieres and little-known works, including the world premiere of John Corigliano's Symphony No. 3 ("Circus Maximus") at Carnegie Hall, Junkin earned the Grainger Medallion of the International Percy Grainger Society in 2005 for his promotion of Grainger's works. He has won major prizes in the U.S. wind ensemble and band circles. In 2018, he released John Williams at the Movies with the Dallas Winds and trumpeter Christopher Martin. In 2022, Junkin and the University of Texas Wind Ensemble released the album Migration; by that time, Junkin's recording catalog included some 15 items. ~ James Manheim, Rovi