John Purifoy

John Purifoy is an ASCAP composer of choral, orchestral, piano and solo works published by the Lorenz Corporation, Hal Leonard, Shawnee Press and other publishers. His compositions have been performed and recorded by actress/singer Carol Lawrence, the Anita Kerr Singers, UCLA Concert Choir, the Northwest Choral Society of Chicago, Georgetown University Choirs, Emory University Choirs, and other artists and performing groups around the world.

“The Chronicles of Blue and Gray,” composed for chorus and orchestra and commissioned by the Knoxville Choral Society, premiered in 2012 to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War. It received a New York premiere at Carnegie Hall on June 8, 2014 by Distinguished Concerts International New York.

Purifoy received a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Arkansas and completed graduate study in music theory at the University of Texas. His concert and church choral works have been translated and performed in Europe, Australia, China, South Korea, Thailand, and Madagascar. The patriotic oratorio, “We Hold These Truths,” narrated by author Alex Haley, won the 1989 Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge award for musical programs. He is a multi-recipient of the ASCAP Standard Award. Mr. Purifoy lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, with his wife, Vicki.