A commission from the Portsmouth Festival Choir,[7] The Shipping Forecast, gained her national media attention in June 2011.
The five-movement cantata Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo (2018) was based on Nujeen Mustafa's biography, retold by Kevin Crossley-Holland.
[14] The Latin Adoro te devote was written for the Westminster Cathedral Choir in 2015 and When time is broke (Three Shakespeare Songs), for the BBC Singers in 2016.
Although choral music dominates her output, McDowall has also composed four stage works (including the chamber opera Airbourne, 2014), orchestral music (such as Great Hills for solo violin, 2 flutes and strings, 2007, and Dance the Dark Streets, a concerto grosso with piano obbligato, 2005), and a considerable body of chamber and instrumental music, including Dream City for flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet (2002),[15] the two movement The Night Trumpeter for trumpet, violin, cello, clarinet, bassoon and piano (2002),[16] and the String Quartet No 1, subtitled the case of the unanswered wire, from 2004.
[17] The impressionistic Y Deryn Pur ('The Gentle Dove') was written for the 2007 Presteigne Festival and scored for oboe, violin, viola and cello.