Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Hayes.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a free lance, self-employed music composer, arranger, recording artist, conductor and concert pianist. I moved to Kansas City in 1977 to be a music editor for a small music publishing company. I worked there for 3 years and then struck out on my own in 1980 as a free-lance arranger. I write primarily choral, piano and orchestral music of all styles for church, school and community groups. I have over 2,000 pieces of music in print by over 30 publishers. I’ve have the honor of conducting my music at Carnegie Hall in NYC many times, Lincoln Center, the National Cathedral in Washington DC and at the Vatican in Rome. I travel internationally and domestically performing piano concerts and conducting choral groups of all ages. My business has continued to grow each year. I’ve written the music for 3 Broadway style musicals with a playwright named Jim Harris who lives in Lincoln, NE. Our latest work, “The Christmas Truce,” is based on the truce that occurred in 1918 in WWI when soldiers stopped fighting for 24 hours and sang carols to each other. It will be performed in Auburn, AL in November and I will be conducting the show. My next big event is the world premiere of a new choral/orchestral work I’m writing called “Psalmos.” I will conduct the premiere at Carnegie Hall April 26, 2026.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I wrote primarily for the church music market for the first 20 years of my career. As a closeted gay man at the time, that was very trying. I was outed and lost several publishing and performing opportunities because of the hypocrisy of the evangelical church. Since being fully out and married to my husband, those stresses are behind me. I have flourished with more work than I can possibly do and can live authentically as myself.
The COVID years were also hard because choirs couldn’t sing. Schools and churches quit buying sheet music and some publishers folded. My main source of income is royalties from the sale of my music. That revenue stream decreased significantly but I managed to pull through and the industry is now rebounding.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I studied at Baylor University in Waco, TX and have a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance. Piano is my first love and I have over 120 piano collections in print. I love to arrange and compose music for the piano. I’m well known in the music publishing industry for my piano artistry. One of my publishers once said, “All we have to do is put your name on a piano book and it will sell even if it’s not very good.” I hope that never happens, but my brand of piano music is internationally known.
I describe my style as uniquely American, incorporating jazz harmonies and rhythms, classical excerpts, Black gospel influences and folk music.
I work out of my home in Midtown and write using a computer and music notation software called Finale. I write quickly and can create a piano arrangement or complete song in a day if necessary. I’m motivated by deadlines and always have several “assignments” I’ve agreed to complete on my “to do” list. I don’t often get writers’ block, but when I do, I leave my office, go take a walk, walk my dog, have a snack or take a nap. By the time I come back, I’ve got a new idea to try.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Writing new music brings me joy because I’m creating something out of nothing. It incorporates my emotions, intellect and spirituality and I know that brings joy to the people who perform and hear my music. They have told me that. I know I was born to write music. It’s a calling that I’m grateful to fulfill
Contact Info:
- Website: https://markhayes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mark.hayes.5059/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markhayesproductions
