Franklin D. Ashdown

Dr. Franklin D. Ashdown is both a retired medical doctor and a widely published composer of organ and choral music. He enjoyed these dual careers for over three decades. His compositions have enjoyed great praise and notoriety. They have been featured in American Public Media’s Pipedreams radio program, NPR’s All Things Considered news program, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s weekly network broadcast, Music and the Spoken Word. His compositions have been performed in venues all over the world, including Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. His compositions have been recorded by many labels and have earned him several awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). From an early age, he studied piano and organ with the likes of Judson Maynard and James Drake. He received private coaching from Fred Tulan of San Francisco and Leonard Raver of The Juilliard School. Currently, Ashdown resides in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and enjoys working as a composer, organist, and choir director.