Lauren E. Hayes, Harpist
Chicago-based harpist Lauren Hayes is an avid orchestral, chamber, and solo musician, distinguishing herself in the areas of contemporary music, ensemble performance, and harp and piano instruction. She performs frequently with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Minnesota Orchestra, Joffrey Ballet Orchestra, the Chicago Philharmonic, on Chicago Symphony’s MusicNow series, and the Chicago Composers Orchestra. She has been an associate member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, guest harpist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and appeared with the Burnt Sugar Arkestra at Carnegie Hall in 2022. Most recently in 2023, she was a featured soloist at the Gothenburg Harp Festival and was awarded an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM). In addition to performing, she maintains a large private teaching studio in Chicago, serves as the President for the Greater Chicago Chapter of the American Harp Society, and is the Program Director for the Chicago-based non-profit, Sharing Notes.
Hayes holds a PD in Orchestral Studies from Roosevelt University (2019), an MA in Harp with Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music (2016), and a BM in Harp Performance from the University of Arizona (2014).
Hayes has been an artist in residence at the Caroga Lake Music Festival since 2019 and was a Harp Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center for the summer of 2018, working with conductors including Andres Nelsons, Thomas Ades, and Stefan Asbury. Lauren received her Master of Arts in Harp with Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in 2016, under the tutelage of Karen Vaughan and Skaila Kanga. While at RAM, she also pursued an emphasis in Music Business as well as studying for the LRAM teaching certificate. After finishing her Masters, she accepted a position as a Teaching Artist with the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble in Atlanta, GA where she worked with more than 80 harp students. In 2017, she began her studies at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University pursuing a Professional Diploma degree in orchestral studies in harp with professor Lynn Williams. Additionally in Chicago, Lauren serves as a Teacher for the Chicago Harp Ensemble, a piano and harp instructor at the American Music Institute and served as a teacher in the Harp Column Academy’s 2017 Summer Camp.
Following her 2012 Carnegie Hall solo debut, Ms. Hayes was awarded third prize in the 2013 American Harp Society National Competition. In 2015 she was named as a finalist in the London Philharmonic’s “Foyle Future Firsts” Fellowship Program for up and coming orchestral musicians. Prior to commencing her studies at RAM, she was selected to participate in the festival MusicAlp in Tignes, France for two summers. As a 2012 winner of the University of Arizona President’s Competition, Ms. Hayes appeared as soloist with the Arizona Symphony. Also in 2012, Ms. Hayes was selected to be a participant at the International Harp Master’s Academy in Bern, Switzerland. During 2011, she was selected as a finalist in the Coeur d’Alene Symphony Young Artists Competition.
Originally from Whitewater, Wisconsin, Ms. Hayes has won various performance awards and received recognition at the state and national level for her solo composition for harp and electronics, “Impressions of Glacier”. Ms. Hayes has also served as the Principal Harpist of the Athens Symphony Orchestra (GA), a substitute Principal Harpist with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra (NC), Augusta Symphony Orchestra (GA), and the Macon Symphony Orchestra (GA). She has performed with London’s Orion Symphony Orchestra, the Aldwych Sinfonia, the Saffron Walden Symphony, the Royal Academy of Music Symphony, the Royal Academy of Music Manson Ensemble (contemporary music ensemble), the Arizona Symphony, the Arizona Opera, the Sierra Vista Symphony Orchestra, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the Wisconsin Youth Symphony.
As an active chamber musician, she appeared as part of the 2023 Rendezvous Arts Chamber Series (Chicago), performed on the Chicago City Winery chamber series in collaboration with the Chicago Philharmonic (2021), performed on UW-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts chamber series with her flute and viola trio (2022), is a core member of the contemporary chamber ensemble Chamber Cartel in Atlanta, GA, has been featured on the St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Chamber Music Series in Wisconsin, the St. Phillips in the Hills Chamber Music Series in Tucson, AZ, organized a chamber recital at the Janesville Performing Art’s Center entitled From London to Janesville, which was featured on Wisconsin Public Radio, and has given several USA premieres of new contemporary works by Dominic Murcott, Aaron Jay Myers, Anthony Donofrio, and JP Merz. Most recently Ms. Hayes recorded the music for “Brawl in Cell Block 99”, premiering at the Venice Film Festival in 2017 and recorded “Young Bloods” for the RADA Festival in London. Additionally she was featured in the premiere of Bruce Broughton’s new harp quartet, Dancing for Love, Dancing for the Gods.
In the summers of 2012 and 2013, Ms. Hayes studied extensively with Ms. Isabelle Perrin in Paris and has also studied from such internationally acclaimed harpists as Milda Agazarian, Skaila Kanga, Karen Vaughan, Sarah Bullen, and Judy Loman. In addition to performing, she completed two years as the intern for the London Festival of Baroque Music, working in marketing, PR, and concert management.
Ms. Hayes is an active member of the American Harp Society, the World Harp Congress, Sigma Alpha Iota, and volunteer with the non-profit Sharing Notes. Outside of music, Ms. Hayes can be found exploring new coffee shops, attending music and outdoor festivals, discovering the world through travel, or practicing yoga.