Joanna Estelle
Contact — joannaestelle@yahoo.ca • 18 Overholt Street St. Catharines, ONL2N 1K6
Bio
Joanna Estelle (Storoschuk) is a Canadian composer, lyricist, and arranger who has won the critical acclaim of audiences from Parliament Hill, Ottawa to London, England and Barcelona, Spain. She studied classical piano and basic theory with the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) as a young person, but was not encouraged by her family to pursue music as a career. She graduated in Psychology and English, then went on to study management accounting. However, her enthusiasm for music and composition never waned. While building a successful career in Canada's federal public service, Joanna channeled her creative energies into composing songs and pursued private studies in piano, theory and arranging. In April 2009, 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.
Joanna left the public service in 2009 to begin full time graduate studies in composition at York University, Toronto, successfully completing the MA Music Program in 2011, at which time she began private studies in advanced composition with Larysa Kuzmenko at University of Toronto. Currently, she is a doctoral candidate at the University of Sheffield (UK) studying under Drs. George Nicholson and Dorothy Ker.
Among Joanna’s many 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. Several of her choral works have been published by Cypress Choral Music (Vancouver, BC). Her well-known Christmas carol Child of the Manger was included in a recording by Cantata Singers of Ottawa Songs of Inspiration: A Feast of Canadian Choral Music. Two of her choral compositions have been premiered at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa as part of the UNISONG festival on Canada Day (2004 and 2009). Her music has often been included in the Dominion Carillonneur's Summer Programme which originates from the Peace Tower, Parliament Hill, Ottawa. In May 2018, Joanna and PARMA Recordings (Boston) released her CD EMERGENCE internationally. More recently, Joanna signed a second contract with PARMA for Trio Casals to record a piece on their fifth CD as well as their next tour.
Joanna's affiliations include: Canadian Music Centre, Canadian League of Composers, SOCAN/ASCAP, Chorus America, Association of Canadian Choral Communities (ACCC), Choirs Ontario, Scriabin Society of America, Association of Canadian Women Composers Treasurer (2004-2014) and Chair (2012-2014), Founding Board of Ottawa New Music Creators (2007). Her personal mission includes promoting Canadian women composers and their works: to this end, she has established the Joanna Estelle Commemorative Scholarship Fund as a bequest to the University of Ottawa to encourage other women to find their musical voices.
For further information please refer to: joannaestelle.com
List of Works
Art Songs
For My Mother — original music/arrangement for soprano, baritone, cello, piano with Ukrainian text
Aramaic Lord’s Prayer — original music/arrangement for mezzo and cello with Aramaic transliterated text)=
Language of a Rose — original music/lyrics/arrangement for soprano, cello, piano
Qu’est-ce que c’est la vie? — original music/French lyrics/arrangement for soprano, cello, piano
Susannah’s Lullaby — original music/lyrics/arrangement for soprano, piano
Take Me Home — original music/lyrics/arrangement for voice, piano
Tell Me Why I Love You — original music/lyrics/arrangement for voice, piano
Elegy for Emilia — original music/lyrics/arrangement for voice, piano
Listen, Listen at the Window — original music/lyrics/arrangement for voice, piano
Choral and Liturgical Pieces
Creed —original music/SATB arrangement with optional solos, Cyrillic text with transliterated English)-
Cherubic Hymn —original music/SSA arrangement, Cyrillic text with transliterated English
Trisagion — original music/T, B arrangement with male soloist, Cyrillic text with transliterated English
Beatitudes — original music/SATB arrangement, Cyrillic text with transliterated English
Only Begotten Son — original music/SATB arrangement, Cyrillic text with transliterated English
Bless the Lord, O My Soul — original music/SATB arrangement, Cyrillic text with transliterated English
Ode to Canada — original music/SATB arrangement/lyrics in English, French, Ukrainian
Song for Abwoon — cantata for mezzo, cello soloist, SATB, chamber ensemble, original music/arrangement/lyrics in English based on Aramaic transliteration by Neil Douglas-Klotz
La Chanson de Ton Cœur — original music/SATB, piano arrangement/French lyrics
Canada Forever Free — original music/SATB, piano arrangement/English, French lyrics
Canada Forever Free — original music/SSA, piano arrangement/English, French lyrics
I Am My Home — original music/SATB arrangement/lyrics
Child of the Manger — original music/lyrics
Water Canticle — original music/lyrics
Instrumental, Chamber, Orchestral Music
Faraway Star — trio for violin, cello, piano
Faraway Star — trio for flute, cello, piano
Faraway Star — flute and piano duet
Fatherland — violin, cello, piano
La fille aux cheveux de lin — full orchestration
Liberation — octet for winds and brass
Canada Forever Free — carillon
Solo Piano Pieces
Umori Suite: Appasionatto Determiinato Energico Estroso Luccicante Pentito Riflessivo Sognante Solenne Speranzoso
Slave Dance
From the Confusion of the Morning
Lost in the Parade
Night in November
Empty Words
A Very Special Love
Merlin
Sister
Larry’s Song
Bright and Clear New Morning
Pieces Published Commercially Oceanna Music (now defunct)
Child of the Manger — SATB arrangement John Gordon Armstrong
Water Canticle — SATB, piano arrangement John Gordon Armstrong
Canada Forever Free — SATB, piano
Canada Forever Free — SSA, piano
Cypress Choral Music
Child of the Manger — SATB arrangement John Gordon Armstrong
Water Canticle — SATB, piano arrangement John Gordon Armstrong
La Chanson de Ton Cœur — SATB, piano, release pending
All other music self-published by Joanna Estelle Music and available for purchase
CDs
CHORAL SHOWCASE (self-produced by Vivestar Music)
ART OF SONG (self-produced by Vivestar Music)
SONG FOR ABWOON (self-produced by Vivestar Music)
CANADA FOREVER FREE (self-produced by Vivestar Music)
SONGS OF INSPIRATION: A Feast of Canadian Choral Music (Cantata Singers of Ottawa)
EMERGENCE – Produced with PARMA Recordings (Boston), released May 2018 (http://navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6161)