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Take Five With Fiona Joy Hawkins

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Meet Fiona Joy Hawkins:

Fiona Joy Hawkins is an Australian composer and pianist who crosses genres from contemporary classical, to worldj Jazz and new age.

Fiona has four award winning albums Portrait of a Waterfall, Angel Above My Piano, ICE—Piano Slightly Chilled and Blue Dream. She has charted at #1 on the New Age Reporter International Radio Charts achieving the highest ranking in the history of the charts.

Fiona performs with a group called Blue Dream, each musician has a diverse range of styles and improvisational skills that brings to life the musical compositions of Fiona Joy Hawkins. The group has an eclectic and musically diverse range of experiences that includes World music, jazz rhythms and classical influences. Blue Dream spans genres, styles and has no pigeon hole. There is no "ounds like."

Fiona's recent album, Blue Dream was produced by Grammy-winner Will Ackerman (Founder of Windham Hill) and has been released on the ABC label. She is the first Independent Australian artist to release a 5.1 multichannel super audio CD and will be recording a new CD for early 2011 to be recorded on a Stuart and Son's piano in Newcastle.

"Blue Dream began as the most ambitious project of my entire career and resulted in one of the most remarkable collaborations this genre has ever known. Blue Dream is unique and I'm as proud of it as anything I've ever worked on in my 35 year career of Grammy Awards and gold/ platinum records."—Will Ackerman (Founder Windham Hill Records) Windham County, Vermont 2008

Fiona has been selling at the top of her genre with sales exceeding the current market decline—after three manufacture runs she continues to sell out. With rave reviews for Blue Dream, and a fan base that keeps her albums almost out of stock, she is back in the studio ready to record again and is about to release a concert DVD.

In addition to four albums—Portrait of a Waterfall, Angel Above My Piano, ICE—Piano Slightly Chilled and Blue Dream— Fiona has released three albums specifically designed for the burgeoning iTunes market: Music for Funerals, Music For Weddings and more.

Since the release of Blue Dream, Fiona is busy enjoying new fans, added performance commitments and the interest of international music critics. Best of all, she's doing what she loves most, diving into composing her next album, tentatively titled 600 Years in a Moment.

"The mood on Blue Dream ranges from vibrant to sensual to haunting... Hawkins' stellar musical vision on this project is worthy of great praise. She wowed us with her 2007 release ICE—Piano Slightly Chilled, and with Blue Dream Fiona Joy Hawkins enters the realm of masterful."—Sandy Shore Smoothjazzfm.com

"Blue Dream represents the very best of this music genre and follows the great tradition of artists such as George Winston. This beautifully crafted album has already been hailed as a work of pure genius"—ABC Music Australia.

'Fiona Joy Hawkins plays with great imagination and beauty. Every measure of this sensitive recording is carefully considered, it takes the listener on a wonderful journey"—Bob Ludwig, Gateway Mastering

Instrument(s):

piano, vocals

Teachers and/or influences?

Ravel, Winston, Prokofiev, Chopin.

I knew I wanted to be a musician when...

I was eight years old and I made the statement that I wanted to "be a composer and a concert pianist" —I was serious!

Your sound and approach to music:

It comes from within, I don't try to do or sound like anything or anyone. I consider myself a story-teller.

I'm always horrified when people say I sound just like........... well anyone. There are no "thank-yous" with that. If you don't have a defining style, you have no career. Thankfully people often say that cause they can't quite pigeonhole me.

Your teaching approach:

I don't teach. I admire those that can. I have had such wonderful teachers and they are the foundation that all good musicians build on.

Your dream band:

Millions! I'm finding them all the time. I just discovered a Paraguyan harpist Alfredo Rolando Ortiz and a Mongolian Throat Singer and Horse Fidler called Bukhu. Discovering new sounds and instruments is better than sex (well almost).

Road story: Your best or worst experience:

Meeting people from Facebook or MySpace is always a highlight. I have made some lifelong friends who have moved from the realms of 'virtual' to family. I love that.

Favorite venue:

Keyboard Concepts in Tustin LA or the piano showroom at Stuart and Son's pianos in Newcastle Australia. It's always fun walking in the door to the announcement "the diva has arrived....." ummmmm....I think?

Your favorite recording in your discography and why?

Blue Dream— the SACD version—there is nothing like hi fidelity 5.1 surround sound 24/96 to hear every breath.

The first Jazz album I bought was:

Does Windham Hill count ? Kinda jazz-derived.......???

What do you think is the most important thing you are contributing musically?

Sheet music, it will be there forever—it gets printed out and students learn to play it. That's when your music gets to live forever.

Did you know...

I love cats, margaritas and chocolate. You can trust me with your man, you can trust me with your fine jewels but you can't trust me with your chocolate.

CDs you are listening to now:

Dido—all her albums; Luka Bloom, Amsterdam; Jeff Oster, True; Will Ackerman, Visiting; and, of course, the early edits for my own 600 Years in a Moment (sorry not out yet)

Desert Island picks:

Fiona Joy Hawkins, Blue Dream (Little Hartley Music);

Jeff Oster, True (Retso Records);

Will Ackerman, Visiting (Little Hartley Music);

Luke Bloom, Amsterdam (Indie);

Kori Linae Carothers, Trillium (Rocknrodrecords).

How would you describe the state of jazz today?

What's jazz exactly?

What are some of the essential requirements to keep jazz alive and growing?

Lets keep the genres up to date. Music is a movement and in order for it to evolve we need to update the genres and allow for new directions and influences. Right now on the shop floors anything and everything gets called jazz.

What is in the near future?

I'm recording 600 Years in a Moment and Christmas Joy, touring the US and then touring Australian in November and December.

By Day:

Music, music...music

If I weren't a jazz musician, I would be a:

dead.

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