a bit about me

Hi friends - Based in Austin, TX, I split my time as a singer, trumpeter, pianist, organist, church music director and armenian duduk player. I recently received my Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Texas at Austin, and I live for meaningful musical collaborations and seek out colleagues, friends and music that inspire me to find the shared humanity in us all.

As the Director of Music at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, I lead masses as Conductor, Singer, Trumpet player and Keyboardist. Throughout the year, with approximately 200 masses, I am grateful for the opportunity to connect musically and spiritually with the ideals of love, kindness, empathy and respect that we as humans must lead with and seek out in our lives. I love liturgical improvisation, and live for those special moments when musicians and the congregation are joined together in a shared moment of powerful prayer and connection.

As an ensemble and solo singer, I enjoy music making with professional organizations such as the multiple grammy winning Crossing Choir and Conspirare, grammy nominated Clarion Choir, grammy nominated Skylark Vocal Ensemble amongst many 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.

As a Trumpeter I will be performing as Assistant Principal / Second Trumpet with the San Antonio Philharmonic for the 2025-2026 season, as well as teaching in the Lake Travis ISD as a Private Instructor. I spent three years performing, teaching and recording with Axiom Brass, and have performed with the National Symphony of Taiwan, the Detroit and Grand Rapids Symphonies and Chicago’s Music of the Baroque, among others. My voice and trumpet have brought me to such stages as Carnegie Hall, Barbican Centre, the National Theater of Korea, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and many others around the world.

Recording and premiering meaningful music is a hugely important part of my musical life. This past year, I released two albums, much of the music of which hadn’t been recorded yet, with pianists Eugenia Jeong (Florence Price, Her Song), and Renan Branco (Confined). I’ve been a part of 25 recorded albums, professionally. For more and to listen, visit this discography page. A recent premiere I commissioned was “If I Must Die” poem by Palestinian scholar and poet, Refaat Alareer, which was set to music by Shireen Abu-Khader. A recent arrangement of mine I was so grateful to premiere was of selected movements from Beverly McKiver’s "Canadian Floral Emblems Suite”.

The 2025-2026 season brings me back to treasured connections in Austin with Conspirare, in Philadelphia, Boston (Boston Symphony Hall), New York City (Carnegie Hall), Stanford and South Carolina with the Crossing Choir, as well as new collaborations with the San Antonio Philharmonic, Seattle-based Evergreen Ensemble, and D.C.-based Ensemble Altera, among others. I hope to also continue sharing “Florence Price, Her Song”, a concert program centered around Florence Price’s art songs, as well as collaborations with my father, Randy Hawes, with music written for us by Kino Lee, Tim Higgins and Adore Alexander, alongside wonderful pieces by Barbara York and Florence Price.

I hope to cross paths with you, and share meaningful music and conversation.

If you would like to collaborate, please do reach out :)

you can reach me at michaelhawes91@gmail.com

Cheers,
Michael