Joanne Cohen received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. She then received a Fulbright Grant for two years of study in Italy. During this time she studied at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia and the Accademia Internazionale di Musica da Camera in Rome. She then continued her studies in London.

Performances in Italy include a tour of Southern Italy sponsored by the United States Information Service. Performances in England include the Purbeck, Roehampton, and Oxford Festivals, and the Purcell Room in London.

Prior to coming to Concordia, she was on the faculty of the College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio; and the Fine Arts Center, Greenville, South Carolina.

She is a member of the Heritage Chamber Players.