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Lynne Turner, appointed to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s harp section in 1962 by Music Director Fritz Reiner, will retire after the CSO’s Ravinia Festival season this summer. Before then, Turner will perform her final concerts in Orchestra Hall during May programs with Mahler’s Sixth and Seventh symphonies and travel for CSO performances during a spring European tour with stops in Amsterdam, Hamburg, Dresden, Prague and Wrocław.
Throughout her distinguished career, Turner has performed under music directors Fritz Reiner, Jean Martinon, Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim and Riccardo Muti, as well as Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink and principal guest conductors Carlo Maria Giulini, Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez and Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä. She also participated in more than 50 international tours, including the CSO’s first visits to Asia, Australia, Europe, Russia and South America.
Along with Principal Trombone Jay Friedman, who also joined the CSO in 1962, Turner shares the distinction of being the longest-serving members in CSO history and one of the longest-serving musicians in any American orchestra.
She will receive the CSO’s Theodore Thomas Medallion for Distinguished Service at a date to be announced. “Being a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for more than six decades has truly been the honor of a lifetime,” Turner said. “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.”
At age 14, Turner first appeared with the CSO in 1956, performing the first movement of George Frideric Handel’s Harp Concerto in B-flat Major at four Young People’s Concerts. She was a member of the Civic Orchestra from 1956 until 1959 and later won a scholarship to study at Tanglewood.
After 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.
She returned to Israel multiple times in subsequent years to serve as a judge in the competition and to participate in two gala concerts featuring first-prize winners from around the globe, including a 2019 event held in Tel Aviv at which she performed Maurice Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro with members of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
Turner comes from a distinguished musical family. Her father, Sol Turner, was a member of the Civic Orchestra’s violin section from 1927 until 1931 (serving for many seasons as concertmaster) and a member of the CSO for more than 20 years, in addition to positions with the St. Louis Symphony and the NBC-Chicago orchestras. Her mother, Evelyn Klein Turner, was an accomplished pianist and her first teacher. Turner’s younger brother, Richard Turner, became principal harpist of the Winnipeg Symphony in 1977 and held that position for more than 45 years.
Turner’s children are continuing the creative tradition: Her son Bennett has been making social-issue documentaries for PBS for more than 25 years, while her daughter Rachel is a successful interior designer.
Praised for her “extraordinary” musicianship (WFMT-FM), her “penetrating and sculpted” playing (Chicago Sun-Times) and her “glorious” sound (Splash magazine), 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 broadcasts.
She served on the faculties of DePaul University and Lake Forest College and was active in the CSO’s education program for many years. Her recordings include works by Corigliano, Schoenberg, Wagner, Mahler, Berlioz, Bruckner, Del Tredici and Brahms, as well as Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade, under Daniel Barenboim.
Additional career highlights include performing Benjamin Britten’s A 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.
