“The glory of the Lord shall endure forever, the Lord shall rejoice in His works . . . I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live, I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.” Psalm 104:31, 33

This line from Psalm 104 is one of Dawn’s favorites and sums up why she loves to sing and especially, sing to God. When she first began piano lessons at the age of five, Dawn had no idea where she was headed in the world of music, although when her first job at the age of 11 was as a church organist, she should have had some clue! Throughout her grade school years,she always sang with and accompanied the chorus and during high school, sang in the musicals and loved it! However, Dawn never thought that her career would have anything to do with music. In fact, she took quite a different path and received her degree in Police Science in 1985 and one year later received a job offer as a police officer in New Hampshire - but somehow, at that time, it felt as if it wasn’t the right path for her to follow. She turned down the job and remained at home in Rochester, NY. A few years later, Dawn met Gene Chmiel, and married in him 1991. Within the next two years, their sons, Brian and Andrew were born and her number one priority was to be a good wife and mother. Dawn says she has never regretted making that choice to stay in Rochester - feeling sure that God was leading her in the right direction.   
Singing in church had been a part of Dawn’s life since she was young and that did not change. Being involved in the choirs at St. Stanislaus and St. Theresa churches in Rochester was how she met her husband, who was a parishoner at St. Stanislaus. She claims it was a great case of divine intervention!!! After becoming a wife and mother, her relationship with God seemed to be revived - and she began to see life in a whole new way and that began to show through in her singing. Dawn had always been able to sing and to play piano and organ and had been using those talents at several area churches in the Rochester, New York Diocese for years; but as her belief and faith in God increased , she began to notice the difference in her own voice. The words of the hymns were not just words, but they were a sincere prayer to the Father in heaven – they became a prayer of comfort for families at funerals, they became prayers of rejoicing at weddings and prayers of true belief in the Holy Eucharist at every Mass. When people tell Dawn that they love her voice, she thanks them but always reflects – “It’s not my voice – it is God’s gift to me and Him working through me. He has given me this gift as He has given to each of us a gift. My desire is to always use the voice He has given me to praise Him and hopefully, to bring His people closer to Him.”  

From 1986 until 2001, Dawn was a member of St. Stanislaus Church and was cantor, soloist and secondary organist there throughout those years as well as Music Coordinator from 1998 until 2001. For the past ten years, she has also sung at St. Ann’s Chapel at the St. Ann’s Community in Rochester, NY for funerals and special liturgies and in 2000, became the Music Coordinator there. She enjoys her work there with the choir and with the residents and staff. In the past ten years, she has also served at Our Lady of Victory, Church of the Annunciation, and St. Charles Borromeo. She has made so many wonderful friends at these parishes and so many others that she has worked with over the years and wants to thanks to all of them.

Recording her first CD was a wonderful experience for Dawn – and a lot more work that she ever thought!!!! She wants to thank first of all, her husband Gene, and sons, Brian and Andrew, who presented her with a Christmas gift in 2001 of recording time at Dynamic Studio. That morning was one of the few times she admits to being truly speechless (although it didn’t last long)!!! Dawn credits so much of her ability to complete this project to her husband, Gene, who has been a constant source of strength for her throughout all the time she’s known him and this past year especially, working on the CD “For His Glory” together, has been no exception. She also wants to thank her mother, Joanne Hawkes-Orman, who was her first example of what it was like to sing to God in His church. Her father, Douglas Hawkes, to whom she has dedicated the song “In the Garden,” was one of the most loving and kindest people she ever knew. Although he died twenty-five years ago, his example of being a true Christian still inspires her today. Finally, but most importantly, she thanks God , and expresses - “Let it all be for Your glory! I will sing praise to You as long as I live!”