Merrie Kathleen Klazek 메리 캐슬린 클라젝 / Canada

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 after 21 years playing principal trumpet in Canadian Orchestras (Victoria Symphony, Thunder Bay Symphony, Orchestra London Canada.) Merrie holds 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, Hungary's Niyrbator Festival, multiple solo appearances with Canadian orchestras and on world music festival stages. Merrie’s critically acclaimed solo album “Songs to the Moon” (2000) celebrates the lyric vocalise style and has been widely featured on radio and TV. Her new release “Dance Around the Sun” (2023) celebrates global unity through music and features 25 tops artists with music from 14 countries. It recently won two Bronze Medals at the Global Music Awards and was nominated for the Western Canada Music awards and the Canadian Folk Music Awards, for Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year, and Global Roots Album of the Year. Both albums are available on streaming platforms, bandcamp, and at Merrie’s solo performances. Merrie has appeared as a presenter, artist, teacher and adjudicator at the International Trumpet Guild Conference (‘08,’11,’18,’21,’23,‘24), International Women’s Brass Conference (’10,’12,’17), Canadian Women’s Brass Collective (’20, ‘24), World Trumpet Society (‘19), Trompetenmuseum in Badsackingen, Germany (’19), and at SBALZ Festival in Valencia, Spain (’24). Her engaging lectures and presentations cover topics including Performance Skills, Trumpet Pedagogy, Women in Brass, Trumpet and the Art Song, and Music as a Global Connector. Merrie has taught and performed in solo settings alongside renowned trumpet colleagues including Jens Lindemann, Rex Richardson, Allen Vizzutti, Wayne Bergeron, Spanish Brass, Ole Edvard Antonsen, Mary Bowden, James Morrison and more. In 2022 Merrie commissioned “Listen to Learn” by Scott MacInnes, a piece for 9 trumpets based on themes of reconciliation and acknowledgement of the Indigenous people of Canada, premiered by her students at the International Trumpet Guild Conference in San Antonio, Texas. With her pedagogical method rooted in the Arnold Jacobs concept of Song and Wind, Merrie is a dedicated and experienced teacher with an aptitude for using visual analogies to help students overcome challenges and achieve maximum efficiency on their instrument so that artistry can prevail. Merrie has presented masterclasses at music schools in North America, the UK & Europe, including the Royal Northern College of Music, The Royal Scottish Conservatoire, Stavanger University, Mississippi State University, McGill University, and others. A popular guest on trumpet podcasts, Merrie is currently working on a pedagogical manual called “Troubleshooting for Trumpet”, as well as developing a digital media platform called “Breaking the Brass Ceiling”. Merrie’s students have gone on to successful careers in orchestras, military bands, and the freelance scene. Merrie is an endorsing artist for Bach Trumpets and Wedge Mouthpieces and is a proud user of Gard Bags.