Joe Mathawaphan is a London-based Thai composer. He is working closely with CoMA London Ensemble this year as a composer in residence. His music often includes aleatoric elements that invite performers to respond with individuality and spatial awareness, making each performance unique to the moment. Some of his work also reflects influences from traditional Thai music. Recently, he featured in the Thai Wind Composers Festival as a winner of the Million Wind Philharmonic’s Call for Scores. In the summer of 2024, he was one of eight composers selected for the Britten Sinfonia’s composer scheme OPUS 1, mentored by Raymond Yiu and Cheryl Frances Hoad. Earlier, two of his works were premiered by the King’s College London Symphony Orchestra after he won their composition competition in 2023, one of which was later performed during the orchestra’s summer tour in southern France. In 2021, he was the second prize winner of the BETA Quartet’s Call for Scores.

 

Joe is pursuing a Master of Music in Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, studying with Edmund Finnis. He previously graduated from King’s College London, where he received compositional advice from Thomas Hyde and Edward Nesbit. During that time, he also received private tuition from Thai composers such as Narongrit Dhamabutra and Kitti Kuremanee.