Marian Hubler was first introduced to Bread & Roses in 1995. She read a cover story by Joan Smith in the SF Examiner Sunday Magazine describing singer-songwriter and activist Mimi Fariña’s life journey. Bread & Roses’ mission to give back to isolated and institutionalized audiences by providing hope and healing through live music deeply resonated with her. She was inspired by the organization Mimi founded in 1974 and the article launched her desire to work with Bread & Roses Presents -- now with a 45-year-strong legacy of touching hearts and souls.
Today, the organization thrives with the help of many new up and coming artists who volunteer each year, a strong social media presence and over 600 free uplifting annual concerts. Marian has proven to be an essential part of Bread & Roses wearing several hats as both a show producer and communications manager. This year she celebrated her 24th anniversary with the organization.
Music was an integral part of her upbringing in Dayton, Ohio. It was a common event for Marian, her brothers Jack and Tom, and her sister Holly, to entertain at family gatherings and talent shows. Studying voice and learning to play guitar, Marian gave recitals in high school and college, sang in swing choirs, loved to harmonize with other singers and to collaborate with other musicians.
She got a degree in English at Trinity College (now Trinity University) in Washington, D.C. and spent her sophomore year in Oxford, England, where she has fond memories of singing in the folk music clubs. After college, her career blossomed in the fields of cultural programming, public relations and special events management. Marian worked first as a seasonal and later as a full-time park ranger for the National Park Service (NPS) in Washington D.C., San Francisco, CA and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
She also worked at a public relations firm in Cambridge, MA, as the public relations director of the Essex Institute in Salem, MA (now the Peabody Essex Museum) and Director of the Conference Center at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.
When assigned as a park ranger to the Special Park Uses Group of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco, she met Mimi Fariña at their office at Fort Mason. Mimi had negotiated with the NPS tor ten years to get permission to produce a series of annual benefit concerts on Alcatraz. Since Bread & Roses mission is to provide music to those who are isolated, the NPS determined the event was compatible with their site interpretation. In 1995, Marian volunteered for Bread & Roses second benefit concert featuring David Grisman and Bonnie Raitt in the dining room of the cell house on the island. Shortly afterwards she learned Bread & Roses had an opening for a concert producer, sent her resume in and began her journey on staff in February of 1996.
Through the years Marian has performed various types of music in many different locations. She played American folk music in Greece, sang in a bluegrass band in Wyoming and a new wave band in Boston. In the Bay Area, she produced her own "Circle of Friends" concert at the former Larkspur Cafe Theater and for the Acoustic Vortex house concert series. Recently she has been singing mostly in an Americana vein for community benefits as well as Bread & Roses institutional concerts with other musicians including Steve De Laet and the late Steve Keating in Rosewood, and Tom Neylan and Bruce Victor in The Triplicates. With Claudia Russell, she co-founded Bread & Roses Holiday Chorus which is now in its 10th year.
She is on the advisory board of the Arete Fund and a member of the ElaGaia Institute for the Arts founded by Dianne de Laet in Argos, Greece.
Currently editor-in-chief of Bread & Roses updated e-news “The Heartbeat,” she continues to manage the organization’s communications and social media team. To preserve the rich history of Bread & Roses legacy, she has also served as its unofficial archivist by managing the organization’s historical archives, photography and concert memorabilia.
Marian notes, "Even after all these years at Bread & Roses, it is still amazing to me that every Bread & Roses show is different. Every audience is different. Every group or performer is different. The special intimacy of Bread & Roses shows sets the stage for the healing power of live music. There is always a story to share about a moment of connection or transformation between artist and audience. It is a privilege to be a witness to the magic of this work and an honor to help with telling our story each day."
By Francesca Lee, Producer
Captions:
1) Marian with performer Jimmy Dillon and Bread & Roses founder Mimi Fariña at Marin General in the late 90s.
2) Marian at the Veterans Home in Yountville.
3) Marian representing Bread & Roses and the Jerry Garcia Foundation at the Dead & Company show at Shoreline Amphitheatre in 2016.
4) Caption at bottom: Marian with (l-r) Steve de Laet, Kay Tittle and Dianne de Laet at Bread & Roses Spring Benefit 2018. Photo by Ken Friedman.
5) (l-r) Carrie Sownie, Matt Jaffe, Dan Foldes, Francesca Lee and Marian Hubler at the screening of the "Bread & Roses Presents" documentary short by Pint of Soul at Mill Valley Film Festival in 2017.