At the invitation of Fritz Reiner, Lynne Turner joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1962 at the age of 21 as second chair harp. Turner — along with her colleague and CSO Principal Trombone Jay Friedman — shares the distinction of serving for 63 seasons, the longest-rostered members in the ensemble’s history and one of the longest-serving musicians in any American orchestra. Turner performed her final concerts with the Orchestra in the spring of 2025 — in programs that featured Mahler’s Sixth and Seventh symphonies in Orchestra Hall and on tour to Amsterdam, Hamburg, Dresden, Prague and Wrocław — as well as at the Ravinia Festival.
Born in Saint Louis, Turner came to Chicago at age 4 and started piano lessons at age 8 with her mother Evelyn, an accomplished pianist. Her father, Sol Turner, had been concertmaster of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and a member of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra before serving in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first violin section from 1943 to 1949 and again from 1963 until 1979. He introduced his daughter to the harp when she was 10, and it soon became her chosen instrument. Turner first appeared with the CSO at the age of 14 in 1956, performing the first movement of Handel’s Harp Concerto in B-flat major on four Young People’s Concerts. She also was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago from 1956 until 1959 and later won a scholarship to study at Tanglewood. Following studies in Chicago with Alberto Salvi, Turner continued her musical education with Pierre Jamet at the Paris Conservatory, earning the school’s highest honor — the premier prix, première nommée, with special distinction hors concours — after only one year of study. She also studied with Nicanor Zabaleta at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. In 1962, Turner became the first American to win first prize in the International Harp Contest in Israel — the world’s oldest harp competition.
Throughout her distinguished career, Turner performed under music directors Fritz Reiner, Jean Martinon, Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim and Riccardo Muti; Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink; principal guest conductors Carlo Maria Giulini, Claudio Abbado and Pierre Boulez, and Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä. She also participated in more than 50 international tours, including the Orchestra’s first visits to Asia, Australia, Europe, Russia and South America.
Praised for her “extraordinary” musicianship (WFMT Radio), her “penetrating and sculpted” playing (Chicago Sun-Times) and her “glorious” sound (Splash Magazines), Turner has appeared with the Israel Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, New York Woodwind Quintet and Siena Festival Orchestra, among other ensembles, and she has been featured on U.S. and international television. She served on the faculties of DePaul University and Lake Forest College and was active in the CSO’s education program for many years.
Recordings she has performed on include works by Corigliano, Schoenberg, Wagner, Mahler, Berlioz, Bruckner, Del Tredici and Brahms, as well as Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade under Barenboim’s baton. Additional highlights of Turner’s career include performing Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols with Margaret Hillis and the Chicago Symphony Chorus, founding the CSO chamber group L’Ensemble Récamier, collaborating with members of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, participating in hundreds of Orchestra Hall concerts for children and families and serving as acting principal harp.
Turner has served on the faculties of DePaul University and Lake Forest College and currently teaches privately. She was a juror for the 2017 Vancouver International Music Competition and a judge for the 17th International Harp Contest in 2009. In commemoration of Israel’s 50th anniversary, she performed at a gala concert in Jerusalem featuring first-prize winners of the Israel competition — a distinguished group representing Australia, France, Italy, Japan and Romania, as well as the U.S. She returned to Tel Aviv in 2019 and performed Maurice Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro with the Israel Philharmonic in a concert held to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the International Harp Contest.
Other artists in Lynne’s family include her brother Richard, former member of the Civic Orchestra and principal harp of the Winnipeg Symphony for more than 45 years; her son Bennett, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, based in Los Angeles, whose films have been screened at venues including the Sundance Film Festival, the Kennedy Center and the British Museum; and her daughter Rachel, an acclaimed decorator and interior designer who lives in New Jersey with her husband and twin daughters. She was married to the late Dr. Albert Tennenbaum, an ophthalmologist who shared her passion for classical music, traveling, gardening, photography and bringing together friends for dinner parties.
“Being a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for more than six decades has truly been the honor of a lifetime,” Turner reflected. “I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the privilege of making music at the highest level, alongside extraordinary colleagues and in collaboration with some of the world’s most inspiring conductors. As I look back, I’m filled with deep joy and pride — along with appreciation to the people of Chicago, who made every performance an occasion to remember.”
