Maria Dunn

She has released six albums including two Juno nominated recordings Gathering (2017), which features a song she wrote ("Malala") inspired by Malala Yousafzai, and For a Song (2002). Maria performs (solo, duo, trio) at theatres, folk clubs, conferences and festivals across Canada, the USA and Europe. She has been featured on Canadian TV, CBC National Radio, CKUA Alberta Radio, BBC Radio Scotland, and her songs published in Sing Out! and Penguin Eggs magazine and the Rise Again (songbook) (2015). Other artists, including Niamh Parsons (The Peddler), The Outside Track (Poor Lonesome Hen), Aengus Finnan (Orphan Hand) and Bob Bossin (We Were Good People), have recorded her original songs.

Her 2012 album Piece by Piece narrates the story of immigrant textile workers in western Canada, notably at the GWG factory in Edmonton. The songs were written for a multimedia show entitled GWG: Piece By Piece developed in collaboration with videographer Don Bouzek and historian Catherine C. Cole. An early performance of the show was held at the Royal Alberta Museum in 2009.

She appeared in the 2002 documentary CKUA: Radio Worth Fighting For.

Born in Scotland, she moved as a child with her family to Ontario. She has made Edmonton, Alberta her base since the 1990s.

As a child she studied classical piano and she later studied psychology at the University of Alberta. From 1987 to 2000, she hosted a weekly folk music program on the U of A's campus/community radio, CJSR. Immersing herself in folk music in this way, she gravitated towards writing her own songs.