Charles Turner is a composer who lives in Danvers, on Massachusetts' North Shore.
He has written music for solo voices, vocal ensembles, solo instruments, handbells, chamber ensembles, orchestra, electronics, experimental ensembles, theater, dance, etc.
His chamber opera Paper or Plastic (libretto by Monica Raymond) was included in the Outside the Box Festival on Boston Common in July of 2013. Here is a link to a video of a concert performance:
His incidental music was part of the production of Goblin Market (script and puppets by Penny Benson, directed by Margarita Blush) at Connecticut Repertory Theater in early 2014.
Charles has performed as a singer and conductor with Triad: Boston's Choral Collective and as a bass player with Salem Community Orchestra and North Shore Philharmonic. He has been a chorister for Cantata Singers of Boston since the early 1990s. You can hear him performing some solo songs by Nancy Rexford here: Prayers from the Ark.
Recent performances: Strade Bolognesi, 13 piano pieces named for streets in Bologna, performed by Lynn Rice-See at Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna, Italy, November 6, 2023. A Lowell Symphony, performed by the Lowell Philharmonic Orchestra, Marshunda Smith conducting, with soloists Teresa Winner Blume, Tenesha Scarlett, and Leyna Blume, March 16, 2024 at Fusion Church, Lowell MA. Lullabye for Lahore, performed by guitarist Aaron Larget-Kaplan, March 29, 2024 at First Church, Boston. A Desert Journey, a chamber opera, fully staged and performed at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Natick, MA, April 18, 2024 This was an excellent student performance produced by Teresa Blume, vocal arts instructor and stage director. Sextet for flute, clarinet, bassoon, violin, viola, and cello was performed at Salem State University on April 27, 2024 by members of the North Shore Chamber Music Society. Clown Dreams of Pratfalls for two clarinets, Canons and Canzonettes for 2 Bb and 1 bass clarinet, Tala Pieces and Ritenere for solo clarinet, Performed in late March, 2025 in Perugia and Bologna by faculty and students of the Perugia Conservatory.