About Me
“One of the brightest lights in contemporary instrumental music, Fiona Joy is poised to move into stardom.”
- Will Ackerman, Founder of Windham Hill Records
As 2016 unfolds, Australian Pianist, Producer & Singer Fiona Joy is readying her new album — Signature Synchronicity — for worldwide release on March 18, 2016, simultaneously preparing for another grand tour of China, a new recording session in the U.S., and a feature concert with her Blue Dream Ensemble at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre (Sydney) — an extension of the Sydney Women’s International Jazz Festival – scheduled for August 2016. She releases Signature Synchronicity for pre-sale on February 20, 2016, a fully-instrumental album that complements Signature Solo, a solo piano version of ten pieces originally recorded and released by Blue Coast Records as CD, SACD and DSD for her audiophile fans.
Fiona looks forward to reconnecting with her fans in China, who’ve have nicknamed her The Piano Angel, not just for her romantic, melodic songs and lush arrangements, but also for her gracious and mesmerizingly ballet-like performance style in concert. It’s a style that will serve her new album well, considering it is inspired by modern-day fairytales. A prolific composer, she has always been interested in creating music that evokes images, emotions and stories.
When not recording or touring, Fiona is busy directing the entrepreneurial side of her music business, an effort which is crucial to the success of every independent artist. She manages her growing record label, Little Hartley Music, and promotes Fiona Joy Jewellery, her new line offering the upscale Swarovsky crystal-adorned bracelets and foot jewellery that she wears while performing barefooted in concert.
It follows that her upbringing was filled with music. She recalls that her father embraced Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music, playing Jesus in the Tamworth Musical Society production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Her classical piano training is evident in her thematic and melodic compositions. Ravel’s “Bolero” emerged as an early influence, she says, adding, “I loved it; I played it over and over and deconstructed every part. George Winston, Prokofiev and Mendelssohn also intrigued me.”
The year 2015 set the stage for the whirlwind that is 2016. Fiona contributed to a GRAMMY-winning album and traversed three continents, performing solo on a grand tour of China, entertaining in the U.S. at the ZMR Awards and at the audiophile Mecca, T.H.E. Show, closing out the year in Australia at the Sydney Women’s International Jazz Festival with her renowned Blue Dream Ensemble. Once home, she attracted the national TV show ‘Lateline’, which ran a feature lifestyle piece on her life and music.
In 2014, a version of Fiona’s song “Grace” was chosen for a GRAMMY®-winning album that also reached #1 on the Billboard charts, and in 2013, her evocative piano and ethereal vocals earned her the global broadcaster’s choice and honor as the Best Instrumental Piano Album for 600 Years in a Moment at the ZMR Awards, whose airplay charts she also graced at #1 for several months with Signature Solo. Fiona Joy also placed as Runner Up for Best Instrumental Song in the International Acoustic Music Awards, nominated alongside Pete Seeger for Best LIVE Performance Album in the Independent Music Awards, and she was an ARIA Finalist in Australia in 2008.
As a forward-looking artist, Fiona is interested in pioneering new musical concepts and recording techniques to better serve her highly-interactive fan base. She frequently appears at audiophile conferences, and is signed to Blue Coast Records for high-fidelity recordings; owner/producer Cookie Marenco is considered and leader in the field, partnering with Sony Music to deliver hi-resolution music to discerning audiophile consumers. Marenco says, ”Fiona’s melodic solo piano and masterful performances are the perfect music to debut the kind of clarity double DSD audio brings to the home listener. Her music is a cross of George Winston’s simple melodies and Ludovico Einaudi’s musical sophistication.”
Fiona’s hard work and conceptual vision for the Signature Series is now coming to fruition in Signature Synchronicity, produced in collaboration with Will Ackerman’s team in full orchestral form. Ackerman, founder of both Windham Hill Records and Imaginary Road Studios, embraced and encouraged Fiona’s music years ago, stating, “Fiona’s Blue Dream album was the most ambitious project of my entire career and resulted in one of the most remarkable collaborations this genre has ever known. Blue Dream is unique and I’m as proud of it as anything I’ve ever worked on in my 35-year career of GRAMMY® Awards and Gold/Platinum records.”
As a collaborator, Fiona has worked with Will Ackerman, Lawrence Blatt, T-Bone Wolk (Hall & Oates), Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, Dire Straits), Jeff Haynes (Pat Metheny), Eugene Friesen (Paul Winter Consort), Heather Rankin, Charlie Bisharat (Shadowfax), Rebecca Daniel (ACO), Jeff Oster and many others. In 2014, she and Ackerman co-produced the successful debut album of Jennifer DeFrayne, who won Best New Artist in the 2015 ZMR Awards for her album By A Wire.
Music writer Michael Diamond, recently reviewed one of Fiona’s live concerts in the U.S., writing “What I appreciated most was being able to listen and watch Fiona at the piano. The passion and elegance in her performance was breathtaking, as her flawless technique combined with pure emotional expression.”
When not on the road, Fiona escapes to her peaceful home in a small rural village in Australia.
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Global Media Relations: Beth Hilton, The B Company: (310-560-8390)
My Interests
Piano, singing, cats, cooking, chocolate, wine, walking
My Audio
My Video
My Links
http://www.youtube.com/fionajoyhttp://www.facebook.com/fionajoymusic
http://www.twitter.com/fionajoymusic
