Julie comes from a long line of musicians. You could say she’s got music in her blood. Her great-grandfather sang with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and her maternal grandmother played piano accompaniment for the silent movies! Julie’s mother remembers going to sleep to the sound of her own parents singing at the piano. Her mother also sang in many groups while Julie was growing up.
Julie started piano lessons at the age 8 in Tempe, Arizona, and began organ lessons at 14 in Mona, Utah. She started teaching piano lessons while still a senior in high school. Julie taught piano lessons for 11 years, then took a break to raise her family. During that time she taught elementary music and helped her husband with the high school choir in Tabiona, Utah. She began teaching piano again in Salem, Utah, in 2009.
Julie first started writing music in 2017 when her neighbor, Douglas Huff, walked across the street and asked if she could put music to a little tune he had. From there it has been a snowball effect. First, she put music to his songs, then she began composing her own pieces. Soon she put music to poems that her brother had written. Finally, one Sunday night, after a wonderful General Conference weekend, she sat at the piano and thought, “If I were going to put words to a song, what would I say?” ‘My Friend’ was written, and so it began…
About the Artist: Julie enjoy’s reading, crocheting, watching old movies, sewing, playing piano and organ and eating cookie dough. She occasionally enjoys being a couch potato.
Julie and her late husband, Reed Turnbow, have nine children and 28 grandchildren. She resides in Utah.
