Robert Turner (composer)

Robert Comrie Turner, (June 6, 1920 – January 26, 2012) was a Canadian composer, educator, and radio producer. Biography Born in Montreal, Turner graduated in 1943 with a bachelor’s degree in music from McGill University, following studies with Douglas Clarke and Claude Champagne. While enrolled briefly at Colorado College in 1947, he met the percussionist, Sara Scott, whom he married in 1949. In 1947, Turner transferred to Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee, where he studied with Roy Harris. He graduated in 1950 with a master’s degree. During this period, Turner spent summers studying with Herbert Howells and Gordon Jacob at the Royal College of Music, then at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood with Olivier Messiaen. Returning to McGill in 1951, he graduated with a doctorate in 1953. From 1952-68, Turner worked as a CBC Radio producer in Vancouver, where he championed the music of Canadian composers and oversaw broadcasts of the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra. Turner’s music has been described as reflecting a variety of influences including jazz, folk music and dance. The composer himself described his music as lyrical and tonal; it also has been noted that Turner coul