Merrie Klazek

Brief biography

Canadian Trumpeter Merrie Klazek is active as a performer, teacher and recording artist in orchestral, chamber, solo, traditional and popular music. She holds a Bachelor of Music with distinction from her native Calgary, and an Master of Music, Pi Kappa Lamba from Northwestern University where she studied with the late Vincent Cichowicz.

Her musical travels have taken her around the globe with performance highlights including the Spoleto Festival Italy, Musik Contemporaire Strasbourg France, Tokyo's Bunka Kaikan hall, Stratford Festival, Hungary's Niyrbator Festival, the International Trumpet Guild Conference, and the International Women’s Brass Conference.

Ms. Klazek has appeared as a soloist with a variety of Canadian orchestras and ensembles. She has been the principal trumpet with the Thunder Bay Symphony, since 1999 and has held the same position with the Victoria Symphony (2005/06) and Orchestra London Canada (1996-99.) She has performed in the trumpet sections of Canada's top orchestras and spent 14 years on faculty at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. In 2016 Ms. Klazek joined the full-time faculty at the University of Victoria’s School of Music, as Professor of Trumpet. Her teaching philosophy has its foundations in the Arnold Jacobs’ school of Wind and Song. As a chamber musician Ms. Klazek is a founding member of Brass Northwest in Thunder Bay, and currently also plays with Pinnacle Brass Quintet on the west coast.

Ms. Klazek’s solo recording entitled “Songs to the Moon” has been featured on TVO Studio 2 and on CBC Radio. She appears on numerous other recordings including four JUNO nominated albums, and is currently working on her second solo recording, which will highlight the trumpet in settings of various world styles in collaboration with renowned folk musicians.