Myra Brooks Turner

{{Short description|American composer (1936–2017)}}

Myra Brooks Turner (13 January 1936 – 7 October 2017){{Cite web|title=Myra Turner Obituary (2017) - Knoxville, TN - Knoxville News Sentinel|url=https://www.legacy.com/amp/obituaries/knoxnews/186895725|access-date=2021-05-08|website=www.legacy.com|language=en}} was an American composer,{{Cite book|last=Anderson|first=Ruth|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2035024|title=Contemporary American composers : a biographical dictionary|date=1976|publisher=G.K. Hall|isbn=0-8161-1117-0|location=Boston|oclc=2035024}} music educator,{{Cite book|last=Hixon|first=Donald L.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28889156|title=Women in music : an encyclopedic biobibliography|date=1993|publisher=Scarecrow Press|others=Don A. Hennessee|isbn=0-8108-2769-7|edition=2nd|location=Metuchen, N.J.|oclc=28889156}} and writer,{{Cite web|title=FJHmusic.com {{!}} Composers & Writers {{!}} Myra Brooks-Turner|url=https://www.fjhmusic.com/composer/mturner.htm|access-date=2021-05-08|website=www.fjhmusic.com|archive-date=2021-05-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508185204/https://www.fjhmusic.com/composer/mturner.htm|url-status=dead}} who composed for television commercials as well as for musical theatre, piano, and voice.

Brooks was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Paul D. and Lillie R. Brooks. She began music lessons at the Juilliard School of Music when she was 12, then earned bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QqY-AQAAIAAJ|title=The World Who's who of Women|date=1974|publisher=Melrose Press|language=en}} Her post graduate study in piano was with Paul Vellucci in Dallas. She married Ronald Joseph Turner{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7yGvrf3-gskC&q=Myra+Brooks+Turner|title=Who's who of American Women|date=1973|publisher=Marquis Who's Who|isbn=978-0-8379-0408-5|language=en}} in 1960 and they had three daughters: Stacy, Cheryl, and Teresa.

Brooks taught music at Mercer University in Georgia,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9EuAAAAIAAJ&q=Myra+Brooks+Turner|title=Directory of American Women Composers|date=1970|publisher=National Federation of Music Clubs.|language=en}} at the Maryville (Tennessee) College of Performing Arts, and at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. She managed two businesses: MBT Productions and the Myra Brooks Turner Studio of Music in Knoxville, as well as two performance groups associated with her teaching studio: the Beethoven Society and the Chopin Society. Through these societies, she produced seven concerts annually.

Over the years, Brooks directed several church choirs. She served as composer-in-residence for the Birmingham (Alabama) Children's Theatre from 1967 to 1969, wrote TV commercials, and directed recording sessions. She was president of the Camelot Fine Arts Club,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wJgJAQAAMAAJ&q=Myra+Brooks+Turner|title=Music Clubs Magazine|date=2006|publisher=National Federation of Music Clubs|language=en}} and received the Award of Merit from the Tennessee Arts Commission as "an outstanding member of the cultural force of the state of Tennessee who has helped to nurture and develop the arts in Tennessee."

Fluent in French, Brooks published a textbook, Les Gens, Les Endroits et Les Choses (People, Places and Things). For several years, her column “Composer’s Corner” appeared in the National Federation of Music Clubs Junior Keynotes Magazine with her original compositions. She wrote articles about musical research and "Pupil Saver" columns for Clavier Magazine,{{Cite web|title=Myra Brooks-Turner's research works|url=https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Myra-Brooks-Turner-2102787430|access-date=2021-05-08|website=ResearchGate|language=en}} and edited the Texas Federation of Music Clubs Bulletin.

Brooks composed{{Cite book|last=Stewart-Green|first=Miriam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fyEKAQAAMAAJ|title=Women Composers: A Checklist of Works for the Solo Voice|date=1980|publisher=G.K. Hall|isbn=978-0-8161-8498-9|language=en}} many piano and vocal works,{{Cite book|last=Stern|first=Susan|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3844725|title=Women composers : a handbook|date=1978|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=0-8108-1138-3|location=Metuchen, N.J.|oclc=3844725}} encompassing at least 72 opus numbers.{{Cite web|title=Myra Brooks Turner|url=https://www.shopmenchey.com/default.aspx|access-date=2021-05-08|website=www.shopmenchey.com|language=en}} Her music is published by FJH Music Co. Inc., McLaughlin & Reilly Co.,{{Cite book|last=Office|first=Library of Congress Copyright|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUYhAQAAIAAJ|title=Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series|date=1969|language=en}} and Schaum Publications Inc. Her compositions include: