Eleanor Turner

This is the day I got baptised!! In my amazing church, Christ Church in Stamford, with our wonderful vicar Anthony and my friend and upcoming vicar Laura. Thanks to @lcampbellamies beautiful Lucy my baptismal buddy who encourages me every day and especially to put my faith in Jesus and actually get baptised. Thanks to Yvette @yvettediazmunoz1111 for the footage and the memories! This was one of the most terrifying, discombobulating, unnerving steps into the unknown I have ever taken, experiencing doubts alongside jubilations. I am here for whatever God has next for me… what can I say, I’ve always loved Jesus and I always will. He is my rock and I never know what’s next in life but I am hugely loved and supported and even when humans fail me, God’s love never fails. (Also, it looks like I’m having a great time in the water but it was freezing 🥶 and I was actually laughing through nerves and hysteria and begging Bob to put the kettle on so Lucy didn’t have to suffer so much! He didn’t….)

I’ve been having great fun making the flyers for my special The Crown of Ariadne Greek food and wine evening at Stamford’s beautiful plant based restaurant, @the_blonde_beet Link for bookings is in my bio. I’m SO excited about this event and grateful to Jo at The Blonde Beet for helping me to visualise and create a convivial Greek style family experience with communal seating and sharing music, food and maybe some ouzo (!) with music and food lovers on Saturday 13th June 6pm onwards. #thecrownofariadne #greekfoodstamford #veganfoodstamford #eleanorturner #shopstamford

Hey guys! 👋 my crowdfunder is only open for another couple of weeks and I have only asked for the amount I really need to raise, not a penny more. I’m aware this plan of mine - go to Toronto 🇨🇦 stay in luxury hotel, perform and listen to lovely music etc, smacks of huge privilege and asking people to support something like this, on the surface very self-serving, feels audacious and cheeky. However, in my defence…. When I heard this congress was called ‘One Harp World’, I HAD to propose my Lullabies for the Land project, which has to date raised well over £2000 for two Palestinian children’s charities. The ripples continue to spread and the artist, Dima, and I harnessed a very particular maternal force and energy when we created the book together in just a few months. I NEED to share it with harpists around the world and continue to create waves as I have done at these events for decades. The legacy created at each congress is very meaningful. All the work I’ve done with Deborah Henson-Conant couldn’t have happened anywhere else. The life-changing masterclass with Murray Schafer and Judy Loman in Vancouver in 2011 continues to inspire me and my students… etc… there are so many experiences like this to mention and I continue to share the musical experiences I’ve gained with my students and audiences. So - visit the link in my bio please and if you can, I’d be immensely grateful for your support and pledges. Thank you xxx

Question 1 about The Crown of Ariadne was “What is it about the Crown that inspired the piece?” Starting with the composer’s obsession with the unique soundscapes of places and times, I’m guessing that ‘Murray’ Schafer, the composer, was drawn to the potential for ‘exotic’ and sensuous sounds with the harp and percussion instruments. The initial prompt had come from Takemitsu mulling over ideas of a harp piece where the harpist wore bells on their arms, which he was exploring with harpist Judy Loman. Murray started writing his multifaceted multi-piece work Patria in the late 1960s, primarily theatrical works based on Greek myths, and he founded the ‘World Soundscape Project’ in 1969. The constellation ‘Northern Star’ aka The Crown of Ariadne links to the Ariadne myth and there are 6 main stars in it, which I assume is the reason that Schafer originally wrote 6 pieces (premiered in Toronto in 1979) before adding a seventh in 1995 after completing around 7 works in the Patria cycle and having maybe 5 in progress… typically he would have two or three ‘on the go’ at the same time. The Crown of Ariadne (on harp and percussion) owes its existence to the beautiful friendship between Judy Loman and Murray Schafer. Judy’s playing, together with the percussion instruments that were available to them through the orchestra at that time, brought the piece into the possibility of existence! #crownofariadne #harpandpercussion #thecrownofariadne

ما اختارتا الله ليشقينا بل اختارنا ليؤجرنا ... دمنا يد حانية وقلب أبيض وضمير حي وروح سامية اللهم اجعل التمريض شفيعا لنا يوم القيامة 🩺💙 #International Nurses Day

EARLYBIRD booking is now open for my Grades 5-8 masterclass on Saturday 4th July. Please message me for the £10 off discount code which runs til the end of May. The class will be in the format of a traditional masterclass where students prepare a couple of pieces for performance and the tutor gives public comments that will benefit not only the player themselves but the other students too. The comments will be in the form of constructive criticism and will be encouraging and motivational! There will be a student concert in the early evening that is not obligatory but should be a lovely celebration of the students’ hard work that family and friends are encouraged to attend. Please do share with other harp students who are at this level. #harpgrade5 #harpgrade6 #harpgrade7 #harpgrade8 #harpmasterclass

Ariadne’s story is an age old tale of loyalty, betrayal, sibling love, complex familial relationships, obsession and more… it’s a story that can be told differently by each narrator and each time, it really can grow and change with your life! It certainly has done with mine! Interestingly, it seems that not many male harpists choose to interpret Ariadne (please prove me wrong) and I can see why on the surface. However, the story is not told in the present, nor from Ariadne’s perspective alone. We are looking at her situation through a window - we see her awaken, we hear her memorise and remember the dance she teaches to Theseus but the masculine presence of the Minotaur is there throughout, in fact his theme is closely interlinked with his half sister Ariadne’s theme! This is not a graphic score, it’s not generally speaking percussive either - the music is highly lyrical, almost romantic. Schafer focuses on melodic leitmotifs to ensure Ariadne is present throughout and uses percussion instruments to evoke the Greek landscape, the insects, the yell of the wolf, the sounds of the blacksmith forging the Minotaur new shoes for his cloven hooves perhaps, in the hot Greek sun. Theseus leaves Ariadne on Naxos Island because he’s a player, a user, a narcissistic person who needed to use a vulnerable young person to his own goals. He would have left Ariadne again and again in every story and every retelling. There are seven tones in a diatonic scale and there are seven stars in the Corona Borealis. The depressing sound of a descending row of seven pitches will always mean betrayal and heartbreak to me…. It costs a small fortune to hire (or buy!) crotales but there are many instruments capable of playing a descending scale so fear not, if you don’t have a cool few thousand to splash out on crotales, you can make do with a school glockenspiel and that scale will still be infused with all the meaning you give to it! So yes, please ask me anything about Ariadne and I hope this has piqued your curiosity just a little bit and helped to explain why I am obsessed with this work. #Crownofariadne #eleanorturner #murrayschafer #rmschafer #thecrownofariadne

📣 last minute announcement! I’ve been asked at short notice to perform for Piccolo concerts at St. John the Baptist Church in Peterborough centre. 10.30am THIS THURSDAY 7th May, a concert for little ones and their accompanying big people. Lovely space, great music, refreshments, toys, blankets, instruments, welcoming and relaxed atmosphere, loads of fun! One of my current students actually used to come to these concerts as a wee girl! No booking needed - just turn up any time from 10am and I’ll perform 45 mins to an hour! Children can wander around and play as much as they like, no need to sit.

“Wordsworth’s River” (🎧 link in bio) is my first ‘postcard commission’ which is a very short work that people can commission me to write for them e.g. for a special occasion. This piece (full version currently available to listen for free via Bandcamp only) was commissioned by John for his wife, Beverley, as a birthday gift. They have kindly encouraged me to share the piece as an example of what I can offer and they are truly delighted with it. Beverley loves the Lakes and is an ardent fan of the poetry of the Lake District’s famous poet, William Wordsworth. The opening of this work depicts the River Duddon (one of the rivers of WW’s childhood) threading “with sinuous lapse the rushes through dwarf willows gliding, and by ferny brake”. I felt my pseudo folk style of composition would suit this postcard commission really nicely. I offer these commissions via my ko-fi page and I’m very grateful to John for getting the ball rolling and booking me via this platform, which I set up to make someone’s first commissioning experience simple and streamlined - something of an experiment and also as part of a larger plan I am still forming! (My ko-fi page is live at ko-fi.com/eleanorstrings) #harpcommission #postcardcommission #musicalpostcard #eleanorturner

I’ve got a busy three months so I’ve compiled most of my concerts and masterclasses into one little square. I’m excited to offer two learning opportunities for harpists grades 5-8 and also a very unique masterclass on The Crown of Ariadne. In amongst my practice over the next few months I am finishing the Lullabies for the Land album and planning future projects which include a children’s show that gently tackles The Troubles in Ireland through the story of a little girl who simply wants to recreate her grandma’s bread (currently in R & D at ‘Project M’ at The Cube, Corby, with actor Clóda O’Boyle my wonderful collaborator) and some longer term music projects including English music with Clare O’Connell on cello, more Palestinian music alone and with various other musicians, new Scottish music with soprano Caroline Salmon, a music and dance plan of some kind with my dear friend Bush Sebar in DRC. Before any of that grows bigger, my main focus for the summer is getting to One Harp World in Toronto, learning and gaining from the interactions and the company, visiting museums to learn about Inuit culture, performing the Lullabies for the Land book and enjoying the chance to expand a project I care so deeply about.

Join us for the Mayoral Dinner at @stamfordcollegeuk on 14th May at 6pm. @stamfordtc Menu by celebrated Ukrainian chef Olia Hercules Welcome drinks at 6pm with live music by world leading harpist @eleanorstrings and renowned Ukrainain pianist @yaroslavoliinyk Tickets £45 Email [email protected] More about Olia: Having trained at Leiths School of Food and Wine in London, Olia Hercules worked in restaurants, including Ottolenghi, and her first book, Mamushka, won the Fortnum and Mason Award for best debut cookbook. The cookbooks Kaukasis, Summer Kitchens and Home Food followed, then, after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Olia cofounded #CookForUkraine, a global initiative that has raised £2 million for Ukraine through cooking. In that year, she was named among Vogue UK’s Most Influential Women.

Harpists and teachers! On Saturday 13 June I am performing the complete 35 minute work ‘The Crown of Ariadne’ and one week before that on Sunday 7th June I am offering this deep dive masterclass in Stamford, for 3 harpists to perform and for spectators to watch and learn. I recorded (thank you Alexander van Ingen [Decca] for pushing me to my limits) and released this and other great compositions by Yinam Leef, Ig Hennemann, Mayuzumi) in 2012 on Champs Hill Records, following the amazing opportunity (thanks to the World Harp Congress) where I worked with Murray Schafer and Judy Loman in a masterclass where me and other students each performed 2 movements to the composer and received his precious, and humourous, words of wisdom. This occasion changed my life but I never found the opportunity to perform and promote the album. In 2021, when I received the devastating news that Murray had passed away, I vowed to get back to the master work which changed my perspective on sound altogether. Whilst teaching at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire I was given the chance to introduce the work to students of all instruments, thanks to Steve Halfyard. Now I am relearning the complete work , reinvigorating my passion for Ariadne’s age old story of loyalty and betrayal, which resonates even more with me now, and my desired outcome would be that this music can reach more people and deepen every harpist’s understanding of timbral work, gesture and compositional structure. Full details about the masterclass and how to book are here if you can screenshot then paste or in my bio: https://www.eleanorturner.biz/SHOP.php#!/Crown-of-Ariadne-masterclass-Sunday-7th-June-2026/p/830972588 and the Spectator tickets are here: https://www.eleanorturner.biz/SHOP.php#!/SPECTATOR-Crown-of-Ariadne-masterclass-Sunday-7th-June-2026/p/830975400