Fiona Joy’s music brings back to mind the wonderful years of
Windham Hill Records
David Robinson (Editor-in-Chief of Positive Feedback)
Fiona Joy Hawkins is an Australian Pianist, Composer and Singer who, prior to COVID, spent 3-5 months a year touring China and the USA.
Inspired by Chopin, Mendelssohn, Michael Nyman, Fiona is known for ‘Grace’, her song on a Grammy Winning album in 2014 and her extensive catalogue produced by Will Ackerman (Founder Windham Hill Records). In 2016 she won two categories of the Independent Music Awards at the Lincoln Centre in New York and has been awarded Best Piano Album by International Radio (ZMR Awards) for several of her albums. Nominated alongside Pete Seeger for Best LIVE Performance Album in the Independent Music Awards, Fiona was an ARIA Finalist in Australia in 2008.
Fiona works with Australian piano maker Stuart and Sons, and has several albums with Blue Coast Records (content partners with Sony Music for hi-resolution releases) Blue Coast owner/producer Cookie Marenco says, “Fiona’s melodic solo piano and masterful performances are the perfect music to debut the kind of clarity double DSD audio brings to the home listener’.
Living in a small village of 830 people in NSW Australia, Fiona has toured and played around the world at venues like New York’s Carnegie (Weill Hall), the New Orleans Jazz Museum, Sydney Opera House (MusicOz Awards), a live concert on Echoes/NPR Radio, has accompanied Deepak Chopra in NY, Mason and Hamlin Piano Festival in LA, The Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre Sydney, Glasshouse Port Macquarie, Sydney Women’s International Jazz Festival, Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, and Halifax Entertainment Centre amongst others.
Fiona Joy Hawkins is known for her romantic, melodic songs and lush arrangements. A prolific composer, she has always been interested in creating music that evokes images, emotions and tells stories.
Producer of four of Fiona’s albums, Will Ackerman, founder of both Windham Hill Records and Imaginary Road Studios, embraced and encouraged Fiona’s music years ago, stating, Fiona’s Blue Dream album was 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.
Fiona and is also a member of the Contemporary instrumental group FLOW (Fiona Joy, Lawrence Blatt, Jeff Oster, Will Ackerman). Fiona has also worked or collaborated withTom Eaton, Corin Nelsen, T-Bone Wolk (Hall & Oates), Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, Dire Straits), Jeff Haynes (Pat Metheny), Eugene Friesen (Paul Winter Consort), Heather Rankin, Charlie Bisharat (Shadowfax), Rebecca Daniel (ACO), Jeff Oster and many others. In 2014, she and Ackerman co-produced the successful debut album of Jennifer DeFrayne, who won Best New Artist in the 2015 ZMR Awards for her album By A Wire.
“What I appreciated most was being able to listen and watch Fiona at the piano. The passion and elegance in her performance was breathtaking, as her flawless technique combined with pure emotional expression“. Music Reviewer Michael Diamond
When not recording or touring, Fiona is busy directing the entrepreneurial side of her music business, an effort which is crucial to the success of every independent artist. She manages her growing record label, Little Hartley Music, and promotes her paintings and Fiona Joy Jewellery, her line offering the upscale Swarovsky crystal-adorned bracelets and foot jewellery that she wears while performing barefooted in concert.
Fiona also manages New Age artist promotions in collaboration with New Age Music Planet. With a keen interest in wildlife and supporting charity, Fiona currently supports Billabong Zoo with music specifically recorded to help bushfire affected wildlife. Listen here
When not on the road, Fiona escapes to her peaceful home in a small rural village in Australia.
“One of the brightest lights in contemporary instrumental music, Fiona Joy is poised to move into stardom.”
Will Ackerman, Founder of Windham Hill Records
# # #
Global Media Relations: Jo Heaney music@fionajoy.au
General, Sales and Booking Info: sales@littlehartleymusic.com.au
All Socials and Streaming: https://links.fionajoy.com/
Earlier Quotes.
Blue Dream represents the very best of this music genre and follows in the great tradition of artists such as George Winston. This beautifully crafted album has already been hailed in the US as a work of pure genius. ABC Music Australia
Hawkins enters the realm of masterfull Smoothjazz FM.