Joanna Lee, composer

Who or what inspired you to take up composing, and pursue a career in music?

I essentially fell into composing – it was a required component of GCSE and A Level music so I started to compose for this and found the area of music I really loved; I preferred creating and experimenting with music rather than performing or repeating what already exists. I have played the piano since I was four – my Mother encouraged me to lessons – and I have never looked back; music has been my life and considering another career didn’t cross my mind.

Who or what were the most significant influences on your musical life and career as a composer?

There are several people that have been significant influences in my musical life. Initially, my childhood piano and school music teachers, who fed my endless musical appetite and encouraged me to composing and music college. From there, my undergraduate teacher Joe Cutler, the first person to teach me that there were actually living composers (!), whilst also having an open-minded approach to different styles of music. Plus other mentors who have selflessly shown faith and generosity to me as a young composer, such as Jane Manning and Oliver Knussen.

Hearing the Rite of Spring by Stravinsky during A Level was a revelation; I had not heard modern music before this. I am also from the east of Suffolk, where the incredible legacy of Benjamin Britten is strongly felt. A huge turning point was being introduced to the ‘avant garde’ composers and works of the 1950s/60s, e.g. Eight Songs for a Mad King by Peter Maxwell Davies, Aventures by Ligeti, Sequenza by Berio. This era initiated a prolonged period of inspiration and direction for my composition.

What have been the greatest challenges/frustrations of your career so far?

From a compositional perspective, writing a children’s opera for English National Opera was a great challenge – composing continuously for over a year about one topic, to create 50 minutes of music that would engage both children and opera buffs, and would be placed on the stage in London and travel to other countries. It was an exhausting and pressured experience but also the most amazing one of my career thus far.

The other greatest challenge of my career has been combining composing and motherhood. Composing is all-encompassing, requiring a huge amount of time and focus, but children are too! There is an element of isolation – I had never seen a pregnant composer before myself and they are two worlds that seem to rarely collide. But I continue to endeavour to find a happy balance between the two.

What are the special challenges/pleasures of working on a commissioned piece?

The great pleasure of working on a commissioned piece is knowing your work is going to be performed – this is not something that necessarily happens early in a composer’s career. I never grow tired of hearing my music brought to life by brilliant musicians; it is such a privilege and thrilling experience.

The challenge of working on a commissioned piece is composing to certain criteria, such as the forces available, duration (if you find yourself wanting to compose more or indeed, less) and trying to compose to the level and enjoyment of the ensemble. This is a good challenge – the majority of commissioning bodies are very accommodating and enthusiastic. Having no boundaries is difficult, you grapple around with too much choice.

strange thing to suggest perhaps but the history of classical music lifts composers and musicians to a lofty status; being grounded and aware, I think, makes for a better musician.

What is your most treasured possession?

A toss-up between my piano and Golden Retriever. Where would my life have been without my piano? The best ‘toy’ my parents ever bought me. My dog has been my calm composing companion for 10 years – devotedly sitting at my feet whilst I compose in isolation for hours, days, months, and affording walks through the countryside to either fill or clear my head in order to compose.