Two years ago Eleanor Turner appeared at the last but one Tuesdays Till Two before the pandemic brought our lunchtime concerts to an abrupt halt. Eleanor hadn't been due to play that day but very kindly stepped in at the last minute after the scheduled performers had to withdraw. We thought it would be good to give her a little longer to prepare for her next concert with us!
As ever St John's will be open for an hour before the concert begins, with volunteers from the pop-up café team offering lots of home made sweet and savoury treats as well as hot and cold drinks. All profits from the café will go towards funding our future programme of events.
The concert will start promptly at 1pm. Admission is free, but we do ask those who can afford it to make a donation to help cover our costs. The suggested donation is £5.
About Eleanor Turner:
Eleanor Turner is a passionate ambassador for the harp and its music. She made her concerto début aged just fifteen, with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields conducted by Daniel Harding, broadcast live on Classic FM. Eleanor has performed everywhere from the Berlin Philharmonie to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She won Second Prize in the 2011 Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition for contemporary music and in 2007 won the European Harp Competition. Eleanor studied with Daphne Boden and Alison Nicholls.
Ballet Wales gave Eleanor her first professional commission, so in 2007 she scored ‘The Bride of Flowers’ for harp and small ensemble. She's collaborated with pop singer Angela Moyra and created original shows including ‘Elusive Symmetry’ with hip-hop dancer Lizzie Gough and guitarist-composer Alan Thomas. Eleanor creates Indian-western fusion music with tabla player Mendi Singh and tours with her band Ranagrí, often with pop legend Tony Christie. Eleanor has also been working with Music Interaction Designer Balandino Di Donato on their ‘HarpCI’ gesture-controlled electronic music project, including performances and workshops around the world. They have performed together in London, Birmingham and Shanghai.
Eleanor’s artistic development has been supported by awards the Tillett Trust, Ambache Charitable Trust, PRS Foundation for New Music, Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust, Help Musicians UK, the Park Lane Group and a Wingate Scholarship. These have enabled Eleanor to commission harp music from composers such as Dai Fujikura, Nicola LeFanu and Savourna Stevenson and to push boundaries in her own composition.
A key influence in Eleanor’s life is the American jazz harpist, composer and conductor Deborah Henson-Conant. Since their first collaboration in 2010, generously supported by Camac Harps, Eleanor and Deborah have worked together in New Orleans (where Eleanor performed Deborah’s concerto Soñando en Español with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra), Sydney and Hong Kong.
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