a bit about me

Hi friends - Based in Austin, TX, where I live with my wife and 2 year old son, I split my time as a singer, trumpeter, armenian duduk player and pianist.

As the Director of Music at St. Thomas More Catholic Parish, I lead masses as Conductor, Singer, Trumpet player and Keyboardist. As an ensemble and solo singer, I sing with professional organizations such as the multiple grammy winning Crossing Choir and Conspirare, grammy nominated Skylark Vocal Ensemble, the Clarion Choir and Cappella Romana, Seraphic Fire, the St. Tikhon Choir, amongst others. The St. Tikhon Choir’s 2020 recording of Benedict Sheehan’s Liturgy was nominated for a Grammy in Best Choral Performance, and you can hear my solo voice throughout the album. It was one of the greatest honors of my career to sing that miraculous music.

My trumpet has taken me abroad playing with the National Symphony of Taiwan, as well as in the Dominican Republic, locally with the Detroit and Grand Rapids Symphonies and Chicago’s Music of the Baroque, among others. I spent 3 years and recorded two albums with Axiom Brass, a quintet based in Chicago.

For more about my musical journey, I invite you to visit this reflection here.

this season

My work is based around my new roots in Austin, TX, where I am Director of Music at St. Thomas More Parish, and at the University of Texas, where I am pursuing my Doctorate in Musical Arts.

I am grateful this season to celebrate the release of the album “Florence Price, Her Song”, a recording featuring 17 songs and 2 chamber music pieces by the great Florence Price. You can learn more HERE

Special concerts this fall include recitals across the country, collaborations continue with Grammy winning ensemble Conspirare in Austin, under the leadership of Craig Hella Johnson, as well as with Grammy winning Crossing Choir, among others. I am grateful that performing, commissioning and recording new music has become a major part of my musical life, and this season is filled with such opportunities. I am grateful to the City of Austin for a significant grant to support local artists, and look forward to sharing with you projects that I have undertaken in conjunction with this grant. I look forward to sharing more solo vocal and trumpet recitals across the country, a medium that I truly love, including more performances of Florence Price’s Songs, along side with music by Franz Schubert, Adore Alexander, Randy Newman, and many others.

I’m also grateful to begin a collaboration with my father, Randall Hawes, former Bass-Trombonist with the Detroit Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra and current Trombone professor at Northwestern University and the Cleveland Institute of Music, to commission, perform and record new works for Trumpet, Bass-Trombone and Piano, a “genre” that has very few works of quality chamber music in it. We are excited to have music written for us by Chicago based artist/master musician Adore Alexander, Taiwanese composer Kino Lee, and San Francisco Symphony Principal Trombonist / Composer / Master Arranger, Timothy Higgins.

Stay tuned to my website here for more updates, concert announcements, and videos. Cheers friends.