Joan Johnson Drewes, a life-long composer, has been singularly focused on writing choral music since 2019. In 2025, her piece “I AM - The Song of Myself” won the HerVoice Composers Competition hosted by Stacy Garrop and Chicago a cappella.
The prestigious PROJECT : ENCORE™ Catalog includes her scores “The Star,” “Lift My Soul,” and “Distant Murmurings.” In 2024, “Distant Murmurings” won first prize in the inaugural Pioneering Voices Choral Series Composition Competition at Mount Holyoke College with Colin Britt conducting. Two of her art songs were performed by soprano Lisa Neher and the Evergreen and Oak Trio. She was 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. “The Star,” debuted in 2020, was performed by David Fryling and the eVoco Voice Collective (Drewes also served on the eVoco Board of Directors.) She is a member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA).
Born into a musical family in Iowa, Drewes sang her first solo and started playing piano at the age of five. While still in high school, she began composing and arranging. Majoring in Composition and Voice Performance, she received her Bachelor of Music from Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA). During her undergraduate career, in addition to performing in Boston and East Coast venues, she presented two concerts of original music with her jazz quintet at the Berklee Performance Center.
After graduating, she lived in Germany and performed as a vocalist, composer, and arranger with jazz groups touring throughout Europe. In addition to teaching private voice and music theory at Berlin’s Music School Neukolln, she worked as a studio musician recording commercials and jingles for television and radio. She recorded Wings of Spring album featuring her vocal talents and four of her original compositions. Drewes 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 chorus. She served as Assistant to the Professor for Creative Play in the Arts at NYU, where she also studied music therapy. In 1989, she recorded Full Moon Dancer with the Urban Earth Band, which spotlighted her vocals and original compositions. In 1992, she moved to Long Island and received her Master of Science in Education from Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY). She became passionate about Dalcroze Pedagogy and studied with Robert Abramson at The Juilliard School. She went on to teach music and chorus for twenty years on Long Island, while raising two daughters.
Drewes is passionate about her dedication to writing choral music. She draws inspiration from the texts she incorporates, along with her connection to community, spirit, and nature. She is humbly thankful for the chance to share her talents.
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