My Gurus – Kate Wareham

Joni Mitchell – singer songwriter

I have had a love affair with Joni Mitchell’s music my whole life. It all started when my parents would sing/play her music in my kitchen, sun literally “pouring in like butterscotch”, and it grew from there. At the National Orchestra for All (NOFA) we’re preparing for our summer course by asking our players about their “music heroes”. Joni Mitchell is and will always be mine, but we’ve loved reading the submissions from the young people about theirs. They have ranged from famous musicians, from all genres, to their school or instrument teacher, from Marianna Hay – conductor and general mother hen of our National Orchestra – to students within their own schools and from our orchestra who they look up to.