Feb 12, 2020
Meet Joanna Forest, the UK’s number official number one selling classical soprano. Joanna she to fame in 2017 when she became the first independent artist to shoot straight to Number 1 in the Official Classical Album Charts with her debut album ‘Stars are Rising’.
Whilst at Stage School Joanna was one of the youngest women to be diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of just 21.
On the show today, Joanna talks about the impact this had on her life, and her career, and how it has helped shaped her musical journey. We also talk about Joanna has forged her career as an independent artist who has won much critical acclaim, including breaking records for going straight to number 1 with her debut album, her second alum ‘Rising Stars’ shooting straight to the top of the classical charts last year, creating her own show in the West End, her first public performance singing with Britain’s Got Talent star Paul Potts, and the song she sang ‘By My Side’ recorded to celebrate 60 years of Cruse making no. 1 in the Classical Singles Charts in 2019.
Joanna shares how she’s navigated the steep learning curve of being an independent artist, the magical power of classical music to benefit mental health, and how her new album ‘Rhythm of Life’ is a musical journey for the whole family, and how music is a connection to imagination and creativity in an over-stimulated world.
Find out more about Joanna
Joanna’s classical album for children, Rhythm of Life is now available now.
The song you hear on the podcast, is Joanna’s recording of Life on Mars, originally written by David Bowie, which was recorded with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra in 2017.