Joanna García gained a First Class Honours Bachelor of Music degree from Manchester University in 1996, also winning three Hargreaves Music Prizes and the Sir Thomas Beecham Medal for outstanding achievement throughout the course.
She continued her studies at the RNCM with Paul Janes and Renna Kellaway, and David Francis for harpsichord, obtaining the sought-after Professional Performance Diploma and a Postgraduate Diploma in Performance. She won the Granada Chamber Music Award, the Song Cycle Accompanist’s Prize, an Allcard Award, and an English-Speaking Union scholarship to study piano in France with teachers from the Paris Conservatoire.
Following her studies, Joanna was offered a two-year Junior Fellowship in accompanying at the RNCM, and was subsequently appointed as Assistant Staff Tutor in Accompaniment. She also worked as Staff Accompanist at Chetham’s School of Music, and taught piano at Manchester University.
Joanna has performed with eminent musicians such as Sir John Tomlinson in a concert shown on the South Bank Show, had a long-standing duo partnership with viola player Robin Ireland, performed a recital in Buenos Aires with tenor Roberto García López, and performed with the Lindsay Quartet in their Sheffield Festival. She has a CD of contemporary music which is available internationally, and she is particularly passionate about collaborative musicianship.
Joanna particularly enjoys working with singers as a coach, and has been repetiteur and conductor with Heritage Opera, conducting operas such as Tosca and Don Giovanni. She has conducted many youth and adult choirs over a number of years, and has a passion for music in education, having worked from 2001 until 2018 as a primary and secondary school teacher, specialist music teacher, and then Assistant and Deputy Headteacher.
Joanna now has a busy teaching schedule as director of the Joanna García Piano School, and works with students internationally. She is also a pedagogy coach with her own team of associate tutors and other piano teachers, a music consultant in schools, and works as occasional staff pianist at the RNCM.