Joanna Estelle

photo: Motaher

Joanna Estelle Storoschuk is a Ukrainian-Canadian composer, lyricist, and arranger whose music has won critical acclaim internationally, most recently at Carnegie Hall in May 2023 where Bobby’s Song was premiered by Trio Casals. She learned classical piano and theory with the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) as a young person, but was deterred from pursuing music as a career. Instead, she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in English and Psychology (Brock, 1972), then studied management accounting while working in Canada’s federal public service.

However, Estelle’s enthusiasm for music never waned: she composed songs and enrolled in piano, theory, and arranging classes in her free time. She also sang in two choirs in Ottawa’s Ukrainian community conducted by Laurence Ewashko, who encouraged her to pursue university-level studies in music. Estelle graduated from the University of Ottawa summa cum laude on the dean’s list, winning the Faculty of Arts silver medal (2009), then earned her Master of Arts in Music at York University, Toronto (2011), and completed two years of doctoral studies at the University of Sheffield, UK (2016-2018). 

Estelle’s work is featured on numerous albums released internationally by PARMA Recordings and has won several medals in the Global Music Awards competition, namely for Bobby’s Song, recorded by Trio Casals, and I Am My Home, recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra (2022). Her latest album TRANSMUTATION, released in November 2023, includes these pieces, others recorded by Trio Casals, and an 11-piece song cycle recorded by Ewashko Singers in Ukrainian, based on the St. John Chrysostom liturgy.

Albums

Transmutation

Release Date: October 27, 2023
Catalog Number: NV6559
21st Century
Chamber
Vocal Music
Orchestra
Piano Trio
Voice
Transmutation: “to change or alter in form, appearance, or nature, especially to a higher form.” Joanna Estelle embodies this definition in her deeply personal and profound compositions on TRANSMUTATION, a communal effort featuring various talented performers coming together to transmute their message to you. With music as vulnerable and exposed as the stories it tells, TRANSMUTATION is a reflection on the patterns of life through periods of both rain and shine, and the constants that keep us grounded through the changes that they bring. Estelle’s message is clear: to allow for change is to allow for healing.

London Cello Connection

Release Date: March 10, 2023
Catalog Number: NV6514
21st Century
Orchestral
Cello
Orchestra
Eight exceptional composers, eight premiere recordings with a legendary orchestra, and one spectacular soloist: LONDON CELLO CONNECTION is a captivating compendium of contemporary compositions by celebrated cellist Ovidiu Marinescu and the London Symphony Orchestra with conductor Miran Vaupotić. Marinescu’s emotive, lush sound and superb technical command provides the continuous thread throughout the program, from the elegant “Sarabande” by Marvin Lamb to Arthur Gottschalk’s regal “Brunetti Meditations” to the shimmering, pulsing “Soul Dance” of Diane Jones, connecting and contrasting each of these works and others by John Robertson, Katherine Price, Joanna Estelle, L Peter Deutsch, and Keith Kramer. Recorded in June 2022 at the LSO’s St. Luke’s Church, the historic site on London’s Old Street which dates to 1733 and was restored to become home to the orchestra’s recording, community, and music education programs.

Moto Finale

Release Date: December 10, 2021
Catalog Number: NV6388
21st Century
Chamber
Piano Trio
MOTO FINALE brings the beloved chamber music series to a close with a number of works inspired by nature, loss, spiritual connection, and music of the past. The seasoned Trio Casals returns for this seventh and final installment to perform the works of seven composers in a diverse and conclusive capstone of modern composition. A fitting album to end the series, MOTO FINALE rewards the attention of listeners as it leads them on a journey of interweaving experiences. Trauma and chaos mingle with tranquility, nostalgia, melancholy, and hope, painting a broad emotional landscape.

Moto Celeste

Release Date: January 24, 2020
Catalog Number: NV6266
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Cello
Piano Trio
In MOTO CELESTE, the fifth installment in Navona Records’ MOTO series, the internationally-acclaimed Trio Casals takes on eight new works by eight preeminent composers. It is an electrifying collection, full of drama and adventure. The compositions borrow from an eclectic array of musical traditions, including rhumba and flamenco music. MOTO CELESTE is forged into a cohesive work by the trio’s sensitive and highly-organic performances.

Emergence

Release Date: May 11, 2018
Catalog Number: NV6161
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Choir
Piano
Voice
Composer/arranger/lyricist Joanna Estelle presents EMERGENCE: a compilation of works produced under her personal philosophy that “quality music uplifts humankind.” The album includes a generous list of collaborators: John Gordon Armstrong (arranger), Laurence Ewashko (baritone), Morgan Strickland, Susan Elizabeth Brown and Laura Dziubaniuk (soprano), Brandon Wilkie and Roland Gjernes (cello), Frédéric Lacroix (piano), and two choral ensembles, Ewashko Singers and Capital Chamber Choir.