Interview: 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. (via)]]>