Bio

Joanna Estelle (Storoschuk) is a Canadian composer, lyricist, and arranger whose music has won critical acclaim from Parliament Hill, Ottawa to London (UK), Barcelona (Spain), and elsewhere around the world. Joanna studied classical piano and theory with the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) as a young person, but her parents deterred her from pursuing music as a career. Instead, she graduated in Psychology and English (Brock, 1972), then went on to study management accounting. However, her enthusiasm for music never waned. While building a successful professional career in Canada’s federal public service, Joanna channeled her creative energies into composing songs while studying modern piano, advanced theory, and arranging in her free time. She completed an undergraduate degree in music after eight years as a part-time special student at University of Ottawa, graduating summa cum laude on the Dean’s list as winner of the Faculty of Art’s silver medal (2009).

After leaving the public service, Joanna completed the MA Music Programme at York University, Toronto (2009-2011), benefitting from the tutelage of choral conductor Dr. Lisette Canton and renowned pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico, as well as composer Larysa Kuzmenko (University of Toronto). She became a Melodious Accord Fellow of the American choral composer Alice Parker and completed Dr. Neil Douglas-Klotz’s Abwoon Interspiritual Leadership Program. From 2016 to 2018, Joanna was a doctoral candidate in composition through the University of Sheffield (UK): her research focused on exploring the relationship between spirituality, science, and creativity. After two years of study, she left the program to focus her efforts on composing with excellent results.

In 2018, PARMA Recordings (Boston) released her first international CD EMERGENCE to widespread praise. In February 2020, Trio Casals performed her piece Faraway Star at Carnegie Hall, having also included it in their CD MOTO CELESTE. Trio Casals recorded Bobby’s Song for their award-winning 2021 CD MOTO FINALE and later performed this piece at Carnegie Hall in May 2023. In 2022, cellist Ovidiu Marinescu recorded “I Am My Home” with the renowned London Symphony Orchestra for his subsequent CD LONDON CELLO CONNECTION. The following year, Joanna released her second successful album on the Navona Records label, TRANSMUTATION (2023), which won Best of Show as well as two gold medals for composition and contemporary classical music in the Global Music Award competition. In December 2023, Ovidiu Marinescu and Noreen Cassidy-Polera recorded her piece Valsa de Saudade for their 2024 release RESURGENCE as well as a performance at Carnegie Hall in September 2024.

Among Joanna’s many other accomplishments, her work has been arranged and orchestrated for performance and recording by artists and choirs in Canada, the United States, and Europe, as well as broadcast on CBC. Her choral compositions have been premiered at Canada’s National Arts Centre in Ottawa as part of the UNISONG festival on Canada Day (2004 and 2009). Her music is often included in recitals by the Dominion Carillonneur from the Peace Tower, Parliament Hill, Ottawa and her choral works are published by Cypress Choral Music (Vancouver). Joanna served on the board of the Association of Canadian Women Composers (ACWC) for many years to help promote the work of Canadian women composers. She also established the Joanna Estelle Commemorative Scholarship Fund as a bequest to the University of Ottawa to encourage other women to find their musical voices.