Jerry Junkin

Jerry Junkin stands among America’s leading wind ensemble conductors through his long tenure leading the Dallas Winds and his continuing role on the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin. His achievements have also carried him beyond domestic circles into prominent international posts and foreign concert halls, a trajectory less common among conductors in this repertory.

Born in 1956 in Victoria, Texas, Junkin grew up with a father who directed the band at Victoria High School. After enrolling at the University of Texas at Austin, he immersed himself in the university’s band program and, upon receiving his degree in 1978, was appointed Assistant Director of Bands. Subsequent faculty appointments took him to the University of South Florida and the University of Michigan; he preserved connections to Michigan by returning each summer for teaching and conducting duties at the Interlochen Arts Academy. In 1988 he returned to the University of Texas as professor and conductor of its wind ensemble, later assuming leadership of the music school’s conducting division. His classroom responsibilities encompass both conducting technique and wind band literature. Under his direction the UT Wind Ensemble toured internationally in 1992 and again in 2008, and it appeared twice at Carnegie Hall.

Junkin’s recording work has involved both the UT Wind Ensemble and the Dallas Winds, the latter ensemble he has led as conductor and artistic director since 1993. His first commercial release with the UT group, the Reference Recordings album Arnold for Band, appeared in 1995, and he has remained associated with that label. Since 2003 he has served as conductor and music director of the Hong Kong Wind Philharmonia; he has also acted as principal guest conductor of the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music Wind Ensemble in Japan and has maintained additional guest-conducting relationships throughout East Asia.

An advocate for new and seldom-heard scores, Junkin has given numerous world premieres, among them John Corigliano’s Symphony No. 3 (“Circus Maximus”) at Carnegie Hall. In recognition of his performances of Percy Grainger’s music, he received the Grainger Medallion from the International Percy Grainger Society in 2005 and has earned additional major awards within American wind ensemble circles. In 2018 he released John Williams at the Movies with the Dallas Winds and trumpeter Christopher Martin. Two years later, in 2022, he and the University of Texas Wind Ensemble issued the album Migration, bringing his total recorded output to approximately fifteen releases.