Joan Tower is one of the most dynamic and original composers of her generation. Her music is marked by its audacity, rich imagery, and formal innovations. Her first work for orchestra, Sequoia, was performed by the orchestras of Saint Louis, New York, San Francisco, Tokyo and London. Silver Ladders, composed in 1987 for the Saint Louis Symphony, was awarded the Grawemeyer Award for Composition in 1990, and her Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman has been performed by more that 100 orchestras since its composition in 1987.

Her early works, written exclusively for solo instruments or chamber ensemble, are reminiscent of the rhythmically complex, pointillistic serial music that she played as a member of different ensembles in the 1960s. Nonetheless, her pieces from this period contain the seeds of her later compositional style, which is characterised by its energy, well-sculpted lines and timbres, exploration of musical space and sense of balance. Noteworthy among her works are Stepping Stones, a ballet choreographed by Kathryn Posin; For the Uncommon Woman, the first of the Uncommon Woman series of orchestral fanfares; and a concerto for orchestra, commissioned by the Chicago, New York, and Saint Louis Symphony Orchestras. Her Third Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman was commissioned for the Carnegie Hall Centennial, and the work’s premiere performance was televised in several countries in May 1991.

From 1969 to 1984, Tower was the pianist in Da Capo Chamber Players. The ensemble received the prestigious Naumburg Chamber Music Award in 1973. She was composer-in-residence with the Saint Louis Symphony from 1985 to 1988. She has taught at Bard College since 1972. Tower was born on 6 September 1938 in New Rochelle (New York State) and grew up in South America.