She helped establish Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group, being a member of its orchestra in the late 1940s and 1950s.
In 1951 Britten dedicated his Six Metamorphoses after Ovid to Joy, which she premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival on 14 June that year.
Together with John Francis (flute) and Millicent Silver (piano) she became part of The Sylvan Trio.
In 1937, Joy gave the first performance of the Oboe Concerto written specially for her by Rutland Boughton at a concert in Oxford with the Boyd Neel String Orchestra.
She was married to the theatre impresario Christopher Ede and they had two children, Robin and Penny.
A concert in her memory was held at the RCM in April 1963.