Cynthia Turner (1932 – 1 February 2021) was a Maltese pianist. She was Malta's best known pianist and one of its most celebrated musicians. She played for

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022 ...

during a royal performance at the Manoel Theatre on 15 November 1967. She performed on stages, cable radio, radio and television in Malta, Italy, France, Germany and Egypt. She received several awards. She became chevalier dans L'Order des Palmes Académiques and became an associate of the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

in London. In 1987 when the National Council of Women of Malta established the Bice Mizzi Vassallo Music Competition; Turner was a member of the organising committee and chaired the adjudicating panel for all editions of the contest. She became a member of the National Order of Merit in 2004, one of the Maltese state's highest honours.

Personal life

Turner was born in

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

in 1932. She went to the Convent of the Sacred Heart school. She was married to Anthony Caruana and they have two sons: Nicholas and Christopher. She had five grandchildren names Paul, Philip, James, Michael and Mischka.

Death

Turner contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Malta The COVID-19 pandemic in Malta is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first case of the disease in Malta was an Italian 12-year-old girl on 7 Mar ...

while receiving treatment for a hip and wrist fracture. She died on 1 February 2021, at age 88.

References

1932 births 2021 deaths Maltese pianists Women pianists Maltese women People from Valletta Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Malta Maltese women musicians {{Malta-bio-stub