DATE: December 11, 2025
EVENT: The Collins Bay Maximum Security Book Club

Eric Friesen is a broadcaster, writer, speaker and consultant on music, culture, broadcasting and religion in both Canada and the United States. He was a network host and executive for both CBC Radio and Minnesota Public Radio (NPR). Eric was the founding Program Director for Winnipeg’s classical and jazz station, Classic 107, and has been a consultant to Radio New Zealand’s Concert Network. He also continues to serve a wide variety of major cultural organizations in Canada and abroad as speaker and interviewer, including Angela Hewitt’s Trasimeno Music Festival in Italy.

Eric teaches a course called Music Worth Discovering at Victoria College, University of Toronto, for first year arts students in the Norman Jewison Stream. He has served as a director of many arts and educational organizations in Canada, including most recently Chair of the revived Kingston WritersFest, and is co-host of a book club in the Maximum Unit at Collins Bay Institution in Kingston, Ontario. Eric makes his home on Amherst Island, near Kingston, Ontario. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2019.