Myra Brooks-Turner is an educator, an award-winning composer, professional pianist and freelance writer. Her column “Composer’s Corner” appears in each edition of the NFMC Junior Keynotes Magazine with one of her original compositions. She is a writer of research articles and Pupil Saver columns for Clavier Magazine.

Having started musical training at The Juilliard School in New York City at age twelve, she holds bachelors and masters honors degrees with piano, theory and composition from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. A professional composer and musical director in Dallas, Myra wrote TV commercials and directed recording sessions. Her post graduate study in piano performance was with Italian Maestro Paul Vellucci in Dallas, Texas, a descendant student of Frèdèric Chopin.

Writing and producing three musicals while at Southern Methodist University, she served as Composer-In-Residence for Birmingham Children’s Theatre, writing and directing six more stage musicals. She is editor of the TFMC State Piano Competition Bulletin in which nine of her piano solos appear as required materials for The Women Composers’ Category.

Myra has taught at Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia, Maryville College of Performing Arts and The University of Tennessee in Knoxville. A professional pianist of Classical repertoire and jazz improvisations, Myra is a frequent guest artist in the area. Owner and creative entity of MBT Productions, she also owns and operates The Myra Brooks-Turner Studio of Music in Knoxville, Tennessee where she teaches voice, piano and composition. Myra has two concert performance groups associated with her teaching studio, The Beethoven Society and The Chopin Society and seven concerts per year.

Myra is a recipient of 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.”

A text book writer of Les Gens, Les Endroits et Les Choses, Myra is Chairman of the Ossoli Circle Language Department and French Instructor.

Her collection of piano improvisations Musical Moods has just been released by Schaum Publications, Inc. Six other piano works are published by FJH Music Company, Inc.

A vocal coach as well as a church Minister of Music for many years, Myra publishes her repertory series of art songs entitled Suddenly My Heart Sings, some of which are listed on required selections in major audition manuals.