Anna Turner (producer)

Anna Turner

Anna Turner in 1973 at NCET
Background information
Also known as Annamystic
Born 1944?[1]
Origin San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died August 27, 1996 (aged 51–52)
Genres New Age, space, ambient
Occupation(s) radio producer, radio host, record producer
Years active 1973–1990s
Labels Hearts of Space Records

Anna Turner (1944?[1] – August 27, 1996) was an American producer and administrator. Turner is best known as the original partner of Stephen Hill for launching the space music radio show Hearts of Space: she was its original radio co-producer (1973–1987) and early co-host (1974–1986), as well as co-founder and record co-producer (1984–1990s) of the associated label Hearts of Space Records.

Biography

NCET

In the early 1970s, Turner worked as general administrative assistant and "Information Director and Tape Librarian"[2] at the [NCET] (National Center for Experiments in Television, a KQED-TV project of the San Francisco visual arts, funded by National Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation), also "coordinating the authorship and publication of written materials concerning NCET."[3]

Turner was described as "sweet, beautiful, skillful, intelligent, insightful, and in our work situations, astoundingly dependable. She was an artistic sounding-board for me, and we worked very closely together on most of my more demanding projects – including being my primary support person throughout the production of the Videola exhibit",[4] as eulogized by ex-boyfriend and NCET's then-resident video artist Don Hallock, who also noted her as "a central element of NCET's success."[3]

Hearts of Space

For more details on the genesis of the show, see Hearts of Space.
Logo of Hearts of Space

In 1973, Turner was the original radio co-producer[5][6] of Stephen Hill's weekly radio show Hearts of Space (HOS). Turner also became the show's co-host from 1974[5][6] to 1986, originally under the on-air pseudonym of "Annamystic" (sometimes rendered "Anna Mystic"). In 1980, Hill and Turner "began to lay the groundwork for national syndication"[7] and in January 1983 the show was syndicated in the U.S. on National Public Radio; as Hill memorialized, "More than anyone else, she was responsible for moving the program into national distribution, for Anna was a person with vision, always moving towards the next frontier."[8]

In mid-1986, Turner started gradually disengaging from the show, with some of her producing duties picked up by "then new, now long running guest producer Ellen Holmes"[9] of Adagio Recordings. According to a fan timeline of the show,[10] Turner's last show dual-narrated with Hill was program 109 "Departure"[11] (October 1986) and her last show as narrator was program 118 "Dona Nobis Pacem"[12] (December 1986). Her last co-production credit was for program 121 "Take It to Heart";[13] Turner co-produced 114 of the syndicated shows, being most programs from #1 (January 1983) to #121 (February 1987).[14]

HOS Records

In 1980, Hill and Turner decided to expand the radio program and started a mail order business to sell the albums played on the show;[7] together they wrote a 100-page annotated catalog called The Hearts of Space Guide to Cosmic, Transcendent and Innerspace Music[7] (1981, OCLC 9950472). They also spent time helping some artists produce records, such as Constance Demby's 1982 Sacred Space Music, whose liner notes credited Hill and expressed "to Anna Turner of Music for the Hearts of Space, the deepest appreciation and gratitude for her guidance – both artistic and musical – and for the depth of her wisdom, generosity and love."[15]

In 1984, Hill and Turner co-founded[16] the show's record label, Hearts of Space Records (later sold to Valley Entertainment in 2001). Turner was a record co-producer for some of its about 150 releases, such as Constance Demby's best-selling Novus Magnificat (1986). She also co-produced the New Age compilation Polar Shift: A Benefit for Antarctica (1991, including Demby, Yanni, and Vangelis), released by Picture Music.

Personal life

Anna Turner[17] was born around 1944.[1] After her Hearts of Space years, Turner lived up to her old radio pseudonym "Annamystic" when according to her friend Don Hallock, she "embarked on an intense journey of spiritual inquiry. She spent considerable time studying with New Age inspirational speaker Jach Pursel, who allegedly channeled a "multidimensional entity" named Lazaris.[3]

According to Hill, Anna Turner died of "a fast moving form of cancer"[8] on August 27, 1996,[8] "in her early 50's."[8] The next month, Hearts of Space broadcast a memorial to her with a rerun of program 91 re-titled the "Anna Turner Tribute" and introduced by Stephen Hill, who said that "this program captures a big part of Anna Turner's being: full of light, beauty, and vision, always reaching for the next frontier."[8]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The alleged birth year of 1944 could not be traced to a reliable source, but is compatible with Stephen Hill's note about her death "in her early 50's."
  2. ↑ See source: NCET, "NCET Cast List"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 See source: Hallock, "NCET Anna Turner"
  4. ↑ See source: Hallock, "NCET Don Hallock - Page 2"
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 See source: HOS, "Hearts of Space - Stephen Hill": "[...] in 1973 Hill created Hearts of Space as a three-hour live weekly radio program on KPFA-FM in Berkeley, California. Joined a year later by former co-producer Anna Turner [...]"
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 See source: HOS, "Hearts of Space - Company": "Intriguing sounds were in the air in 1973 when producer Stephen Hill turned his fascination with space-creating music into a weekly late-night program called Music from the Hearts of Space on KPFA-FM in Berkeley, CA. With original co-producer Anna Turner joining the effort in 1974, [...]"
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 See source: Bonk, "A Conversation With Stephen Hill"
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 See source: Hill, "PGM 091: Anna Turner Tribute"
  9. ↑ http://www.hos.com/php/showProgram.php?program=0107
  10. ↑ Schultz, Kevin (2009). "Hearts of Space Timeline", January 18, 2009 post by Schultkl, Kevin's Blog at Blogspot
  11. ↑ http://www.hos.com/php/showProgram.php?program=0109
  12. ↑ http://www.hos.com/php/showProgram.php?program=0118
  13. ↑ http://www.hos.com/php/showProgram.php?program=0121
  14. ↑ HOS. "Site Search Results: 114 matches to Anna Turner" (listing 114 programs with "Producer : Stephen Hill and Anna Turner")
  15. ↑ Demby, Constance. "Sacred Space Music" (cassette liner notes at Discogs), Mill Valley, CA: Gandarva, 1982
  16. ↑ See source: HOS, "Hearts of Space - Bios": "Stephen and original partner Anna Turner then launched Hearts of Space Records in 1984. After over 150 releases, the label was sold to Valley Entertainment in 2001."
  17. ↑ Sometimes "Ann Turner" erroneously.

References

Further reading

External links