Sound the Global Trumpet Merrie Klazek and Anita Datta

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 (Thunder Bay Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Orchestra London Canada.) Merrie holds an MMus with distinction 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 France, Bunka Kaikan Hall Japan, SBALZ Festival Spain, solo appearances with Canadian orchestras and on Folk/World Music festival stages. Merrie’s popular solo albums Songs to the Moon (2000) and Dance Around the Sun (2023) have earned her two bronze medals from Global Music Awards and nominations for Instrumental Artist of the Year and Global Roots Album of the Year from Western Canada Music Awards and the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Merrie has appeared as a presenter, artist, teacher and adjudicator at the International Trumpet Guild Conference, International Women’s Brass Conference, Canadian Women’s Brass Collective, and the World Trumpet Society. 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 the world over and is an endorsing artist for Bach Trumpets and Wedge Mouthpieces.

Dr Anita Datta is an organist, conductor, and composer from East Yorkshire, UK. After learning about the existence of organ scholarships while bunking PE aged 17, Anita secured a scholarship to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where she accompanied the college chapel choir, performed on two commercial albums, and undertook three international tours a year encompassing destinations such as St Peter’s Basilica (Vatican City) and Las Vegas (USA). She has subsequently given solo recitals around the UK, including at the Three Choirs Festival and in her hometown at Hull City Hall. She was awarded the prize for the highest mark in practical examinations for Associateship of the Royal College of Organists in 2018, and has held liturgical posts in London, County Durham, and at Beverley Minster. She is the founder and artistic director of early music ensemble The Swan Consort. Anita draws extensively on her Indian cultural and musical heritage in her performing and composing, frequently improvising upon raga during solo organ recitals. Recent commissions include raga-based works for the BBC Singers, Multitude of Voyces, and an Organ Symphony for Contemporary South Asian Music organisation ZeroKlassical (premiere expected 2025). She deploys her academic expertise in Social Anthropology to further inclusivity in the arts more broadly, sitting on the boards of the National Centre for Early Music and serving as Creative Learning and Participation Producer for the London Handel Festival. She is affiliated as a Research Associate at both Durham University and Guildhall School of Music and Drama.