Joe Mathawaphan is a London-based Thai composer. Recently, he was selected as one of the two winners of the Million Wind Philharmonic’s Call for Two Thai Composers. Conducted by Viskamol Chaiwanichsiri, the piece was premiered at Kasetsart University, featuring in the Thai Wind Composers Festival 2025. During the summer of 2024, he was selected as one of the eight composers for the Britten Sinfonia's composer development scheme (OPUS 1). Mentored by Raymond Yiu and Cheryl Frances-Hoad, the programme finished with a showcase and recording session of the piece in Cambridge. 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 later received its European premiere and two subsequent performances during the orchestra’s summer tour in Southern France. He was also the second-prize winner of BETA Quartet’s Call for Scores, leading to the premiere of his work in Fairmont, West Virginia. In 2021, he participated in the Thai Youth Wind’s music programme, where his music was awarded first prize. In addition to his focus on classical compositions, he has also written music for short films and musical theatre productions.

 

Joe is currently beginning his postgraduate studies for a Master of Music (Composition) at the Royal Academy of Music with Edmund Finnis as his professor. He was previously awarded an undergraduate degree with first class honours at King’s College London, where he received compositional advice from Thomas Hyde and Edward Nesbit. During that time, he also received private tuition from respected Thai composers such as Narongrit Dhamabutra and Kitti Kuremanee.