Joanna MacGregor is thought of as one of the world’s most wide-ranging and innovative musicians and has pursued a life connecting many genres of music defying categorizations. She has performed in over sixty countries often appearing as a solo artist with many of the world's leading orchestras. These include the New York Philharmonic, London and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, Netherlands Radio and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestras and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The many eminent conductors with whom she has worked include Pierre Boulez, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Colin Davis and Michael Tilson Thomas. She has premiered many landmark compositions ranging from Sir Harrison Birtwistle and Django Bates to John Adams and James MacMillan.

As a recording artist Joanna MacGregor has made fifteen solo recordings for Collins Classics, ranging from Bach, Scarlatti, Ravel and Debussy, to jazz and contemporary music. Her own record label SoundCircus was founded in 1998 (after the ground-breaking concert series at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester) and has released many highly successful recordings including the Mercury prize-nominated Play (including music by Bach, Ligeti and Piazzolla) and Neural Circuits, with music by Messiaen, Arvo Part and Nitin Sawhney. Current releases include the Moondog/Bach project with Britten Sinfonia, Sidewalk Dances. Throughout her recording career, Miss MacGregor has had a particular affinity for American music; her very first recording was of Ives, Copland, Nancarrow and Thelonious Monk; her SoundCircus catalogue includes John Cage's Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano and Lou Harrison's Piano Concerto, and one of her most recent releases is Deep River, music inspired by the Deep South, with saxophonist Andy Sheppard.

After studying composition at Cambridge University, and piano at the Royal Academy as a post-graduate, Miss MacGregor has been closely linked with the Royal Academy of Music, where she was made a visiting Professor of Piano. She has received honorary Fellowships from the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College of Music, and an Honorary Doctorate from the Open University. From 1997-2000 she was Professor of Music at Gresham College, London where she gave a series of public lectures. She has been artistic director of the Society for the Promotion of New Music and served on the Arts Council from 2000 - 2004. Her interest in education is reflected in a series of music books for young children written for Faber, PianoWorld, hailed as "a new series for the Millennium." She regularly gives masterclasses both in the United Kingdom and abroad (and for many years was visiting piano tutor at Dartington International Summer School), and is appointed Professor at Liverpool Hope University 2006-7. Joanna MacGregor is also Artistic Director of the Bath International Music Festival.

photo credit : Peter Williams