Mary Turner received a B.S. and an M.S. in Music from the Juilliard School of Music, where she was a piano student of James Friskin. Following graduation, she remained in New York teaching privately and at St. Hilda's and St. Hugh's School for a number of years. After leaving NYC, four of her New York students went on to study at the Pre-College division of The Juilliard School.

Ms. Turner moved to Durham, NC, in 1975, where she taught at Duke University, gave recitals, and maintained a private studio for 7 years. While teaching at Duke, she took occasional private piano lessons with the renowned Italian pianist and pedagogue, Guido Agosti; in 1982, she went to Rome, where she studied under Agosti as a private piano student for several years. She also taught at the Junior English School in Rome for one year.

Ms. Turner now lives in Chapel Hill, where she teaches students of the Triangle area. In addition to those simply interested in a solid musical background, her students include multiple prize-winners and occasional future music majors. One former student graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music and earned both the Masters Degree and the Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School. He won the Young Artists International Auditions in 2011 and the 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant, among numerous other awards.

Ms. Turner is a member of the Durham Music Teachers Association, the Chapel Hill Music Teachers Association, the North Carolina Music Teachers Association, and the Music Teachers National Association. Her students frequent the NCMTA and DMTA piano competitions, as well as the Harold Protsman Classical Period Piano Competition of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.