Joanna grew up in North London and studied cello in London and Moscow. At her Wigmore Hall debut the Daily Telegraph noted her “ardently responsive style”  but it was while working as principal cellist of the Scottish Baroque Ensemble that Joanna realised how much she loved string orchestral music. This resulted in her forming Peterborough String Orchestra in 1983, and under her artistic directorship the orchestra received excellent national reviews.

Joanna loves reading and has worked as a journalist and magazine editor. But in 2011 she returned to music and played with a violinist who encouraged her to arrange repertoire. This gradually gave her the confidence to start composing, and she is delighted to be writing original music at this stage of her life. Here’s her interview on Radio Cambridge’s Women Making Waves.

Joanna’s work is published by SJ Music, UM.P. and  she is a house composer at Kevin Mayhew.  Two of her duets have been chosen for the 2024 ABRSM cello exam syllabus.  Her Ensemble   recorded Joanna’s first string orchestra work – Clan – and  gave the premiere at the Elgar Concert Hall in February 2024. They also toured the work in Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle. When the recording of Clan was released it was chosen as Album of the Weekend by Scala Radio  and Video of the Day by Gramophone .The third movement – Us – has also been played on Radio 3’s programme Earlier and on Radio 3’s Classical Unwind.

Joanna’s series of five songs – Moments of Freedom – has just been recorded by Angelina Dorlin-Barlow and Firoze Madon at the Royal College of Music; and her beginner cello and piano book – Wild Cello – is being published next month.