Eleanor Turner
Eleanor Turner is a passionate ambassador for the harp. She made her London concerto debut aged just fifteen, with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, conducted by Daniel Harding and broadcast live on Classic FM. Praised by The Times for her “scrupulous attention to the harp’s dynamic and rhythmic possibilities”, Eleanor has performed solo at the Berlin Philharmonie, Musiekgeouw Aant Ij in Amsterdam and the Wigmore Hall in London.
Eleanor has won numerous prizes at international harp competitions, including the Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition. Her principal tutors were Daphne Boden and Alison Nicholls, and she has also benefited hugely from study courses with harpists Ernestine Stoop, Erika Waardenburg and Marisa Robles.
Eleanor composed the music for Ballet Wales’ 2007 production ‘The Bride of Flowers’, wrote pop songs with Dutch artist Angela Moyra (Dutch International Harp Festival 2013) and created an original show entitled ‘Elusive Symmetry’, with hip-hop dancer Lizzie Gough and guitarist- composer Alan Thomas. Recent projects include ‘Wild Bird’ for harp and ensemble, performing Indian-western improvised fusion music with tabla player Mendi Mohinder Singh and touring with the band Ranagrí. Eleanor has also been working with Music Interaction Designer Balandino Di Donato on their ‘HarpCI’ gesture-controlled electronic music project.
Eleanor’s artistic development has been supported by awards the Tillett Trust, Ambache Charitable Trust, PRS Foundation for New Music, Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust, Musicians Benevolent Fund, Park Lane Group and a Wingate Scholarship.
Eleanor also loves to teach and enjoys sharing her wealth of experience with students at Birmingham Conservatoire (where she is Head of Harp), Uppingham School and Stamford Endowed Schools as well as at her home in Lincolnshire.