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Hawksley Workman: The DIY Musician in Canada
March 16, 2023 @ 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
A roundtable discussion featuring
The Adaskin Series in Fine Arts Guest Artist
Hawksley Workman, Canadian singer-songwriter / producer
With
Merrie Klazek, UVic Associate Professor / trumpeter
Adrian Dolan, Member of The Bills / composer / producer / arranger
Laura Mina Mitic, Member of Carmanah / composer / manager
Join singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Hawksley Workman, along with members from the UVic School of Music and the Victoria community for an insightful roundtable discussion on what it takes to thrive as a self-produced musician in Canada. Topics will include mastering your craft, efficient practice, marketing and promotion, community engagement, and aspects of mental, physical, and financial health.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Hawksley Workman is a JUNO Award-winning and Gold Record certified singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Since his ground-breaking self-produced indie debut For Him and The Girls (1999) through to chart-topping singles of 2020, Hawksley has careened between major label international smash hits to Canadiana-soaked indie releases. Boasting a catalogue of 17 solo records, Hawksley’s genre defying style strings together folk, chart pop and irrepressible cabaret. Stories of weather, love, heartbreak, and more than a few tales of end-times have a garnered Hawksley a league of devoted fans.
Laura Mina Mitic is a musician, songwriter and music manager spending her time between Victoria and Toronto where she’s been actively living a career in music balanced with a passion for nature and environmental stewardship. Her band Carmanah has been active in the Canadian music scene for almost a decade. Her newest project – Miina – recently returned home from an eastern Canadian tour opening for Bedouin Soundclash and is getting ready to release its debut album this spring. Laura Mina’s main passion is mixing music with conversations pertaining to the health of our planet, our communities and ourselves. She has delivered over 100 presentations to youth via The Jellyfish Project, an organization that brings musicians into schools to discuss topics surrounding climate and social justice. Her band has been running their tour vehicle on used-vegetable oil since 2015. During the pandemic they converted a 1972 Greyhound Bus into a tiny home/tour bus. The bus completed its inaugural tour from Victoria to Toronto in the Fall of 2022. Laura Mina has a degree in History with a minor in Environmental Studies from the University of Victoria where she also ran varsity Cross-Country and Track for five years.
Merrie Klazek is a versatile and respected trumpet artist in the world of performance and education. Fluent in orchestral, chamber, solo, traditional (world), and popular music, Merrie joined the full-time faculty at the University of Victoria’s School of Music in 2016. Merrie holds a BMus from her native Calgary and an MMus from Northwestern University where she studied with the late Vincent Cichowicz. Her musical travels have taken her around the globe with performance highlights including Spoleto Festival Italy, Musik Contemporaire Strasbourg France, Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan hall, Stratford Festival, Hungary’s Niyrbator Festival, and many solo appearances with Canadian orchestras and on Folk festival stages. Merrie’s first solo album “Songs to the Moon” has been featured on TVO Studio 2 and CBC Radio. Her second album “Dance Around the Sun” is soon to be released in 2023. It celebrates the trumpet in settings of world music with over 24 musicians from around the globe. Merrie is a frequent presenter at international music conferences on topics including performance, pedagogy, and community building through music. Prior to joining the faculty at UVic, Merrie played Principal trumpet with the Thunder Bay Symphony from 1999-2018, and has held the same position with Victoria Symphony and Orchestra London Canada. Merrie is an endorsing artist for Wedge Mouthpieces & Bach Trumpets/Conn-Selmer.
Adrian Dolan is a multi-instrumentalist and composer / producer / arranger, born in eastern Ontario and raised on Vancouver Island. He studied classical piano, violin and viola, and later branched out to traditional music on fiddle and accordion. Since age 17 he’s been a fixture in roots band The Bills, earning multiple Juno Award nominations and Western Canadian Music Awards including entertainers of the year. He has toured the world extensively, both performing and mixing audio (The Wailin’ Jennys, Deva Premal, Ruth Moody, The Chieftains, The Rankin Sisters, Ridley Bent, The Arrogant Worms) and his playing can be heard on a vast list of recordings. Adrian’s production and mixing credits include Barney Bentall, Jenny Ritter, Twin Bandit, Oliver Swain, Andrea Bettger and Pierre Schryer & Adam Dobres. His arrangements and orchestrations can be heard on releases from Johnny Payne, West My Friend, Ruben Lee Dalton, Alex Cuba (2017 Grammy-nominated album), and a recent stage production entitled Take This Waltz, featuring the music of Leonard Cohen, produced by Vancouver’s Ne.Sans Opera & Dance. Adrian also serves as technical director and head audio for the Hornby Festival, and Campbell Bay Music Festival. He currently lives with his family in the Cowichan Valley.