“Silence is the language of God and in that expanse of silence is the music I haven’t written yet. The music is there - in the nothingness that is everything.” —JJD
Quoted in “Joan Finds Her Voice”, There’s a Poem in That with Todd Boss.
JOAN JOHNSON DREWES
COMPOSER
Joan was born into a musical family in Iowa. She sang her first solo at age 5 and began writing and arranging while still in high school. She then attended Berklee College of Music in Boston where she majored in Composition and Voice Performance, graduating with a Bachelor of Music. During her undergraduate career, she composed for and performed with many ensembles, including two concerts of original music at the Berklee Performance Center with her jazz quintet, “Moon, No Stars.”
After graduating from Berklee, Joan lived in Germany and performed as a vocalist, composer and arranger with multiple jazz groups touring throughout Europe. During her time in Europe she worked as a studio artist, recording commercials and jingles for TV & radio in addition to teaching private voice and music theory at the Music School Neukolln in Berlin. While there, she recorded Wings Of Spring featuring her vocal talents and four of her original compositions. Joan returned to the US in 1980, and further pursued her career in New York City. By 1982 she was intricately involved in a new music program at Washington Square Church and wrote many pieces for the concert series including works for Jazz Ensembles, Vocal Yoga Improvisations and SATB choral works. She was an Assistant to the Professor for “Creative Play in the Arts” at NYU, where she also studied music therapy. In 1989, Joan recorded with the Urban Earth Band on their album, Full Moon Dancer which spotlighted her vocals and two original compositions. In 1992, Joan moved to Long Island and received her Master of Science in Education from Hofstra University. She became passionate about the Dalcroze Pedagogy and studied with Robert Abramson at The Juilliard School. She went on to teach music and chorus in the Farmingdale, NY School District for 20 years, while raising two daughters.
Joan began seriously composing again in 2014 when she joined the eVoco Voice Collective under the direction of Dr. David Fryling. Now retired from teaching, Joan dedicates her time to composing vocal, piano and choral pieces. She is a former member of the eVoco Voice Collective Board of Directors, and an active member of the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). In April 2024 she won first prize in the Inaugural Pioneering Voices Choral Series Composition Competition at Mount Holyoke College for her SSAA piece “Distant Murmurings”. Joan was recently recognized as runner-up in the 2023 Celebris Ensemble Composition Contest. She received Honorable Mention for her piece Lift My Soul in the 2022 HerVoice Composers Competition hosted by Stacy Garrop and Chicago a cappella.
Joan feels great joy in her renewed commitment to creating music. She finds inspiration in searching for texts that express her deep feelings, values and views of the world whether it is through ancient Middle Eastern poetry, Biblical verse, classic prose or contemporary poets. Joan is grateful for the opportunity to share her compositions.
CONDENSED BIO
“There is nothing closer to the soul than the sound of the human voice singing!” —JJD
Recently retired from 20 years of teaching general music and chorus, in addition to her studies at NYU (Music Therapy) and Juilliard (Dalcroze Pedagogy), Joan holds degrees from Berklee College of Music and Hofstra University. Moving from Iowa, to Boston, to Germany, to New York, Joan toured with jazz groups and recorded several albums which include her original compositions and vocals. Joan joined eVoco Voice Collective under the direction of Dr. David Fryling and is a former member of the eVoco Board of Directors. Three of her pieces, (Three, Lift My Soul and The Star) were performed by the ensembles. In April 2024 she won first prize in the Inaugural Pioneering Voices Choral Series Composition Competition at Mount Holyoke College for her SSAA piece “Distant Murmurings”. Joan was recently recognized as runner-up in the 2023 Celebris Ensemble Composition Contest. She received Honorable Mention for her piece Lift My Soul in the 2022 HerVoice Composers Competition hosted by Stacy Garrop and Chicago a cappella. She looks forward to making new connections with conductors, performers and fellow composers.