Hayden Iskander is an emerging composer and pianist from of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Last summer, he was able to participate in the Charlotte New Music Festival’s first online festival, where he had the opportunity to collaborate with one of their guest ensembles Hypercube on the premiere of his new work “Voices From the Otherworld.” The previous year, he was able to attend the 2019 Atlantic Music Festival, where he was able to have one of his chamber music pieces premiered by Trio Fibonacci and violist Maksymillian Krzak. During this festival, Hayden was also one of the composers who got to have their orchestra works recorded by the Atlantic Music Festival Orchestra.

Earlier, throughout 2018 and 2019, his string duo Transience has had several repeat performances by the team that premiered it. In addition, it had a special performance at the University of North Texas as part of a composer exchange with the University of Oklahoma (OU), where Hayden was completing his graduate studies. In late 2016, his Sonata-Fantasy for flute, harp, violin, and cello was advanced to the finals of the Music Teachers National Association Young Artists Competition, making it Hayden’s third time as a National Finalist in that competition. He has also had that piece, as well as his string quintet Tales of the Night Sky performed for OU’s Composing Tomorrow series dedicated to the performance of new music by OU composers.

As a pianist, Hayden has a mix of solo and collaborative performances under his belt. His favorite collaborations were his team up with Tulsa soprano Meray Boustani for a lecture recital on the complete Chopin Polish Songs, and his year-long undertaking with fellow OU students and alumni for a community concert of Messiaen’s Quatour pour la fin du temps. A major aspect of his solo performing, especially during his graduate studies, has been the promotion of new music, having premiered the works of several of his colleagues, and having also commissioned a work for his degree piano recital by OU composer Zachary Daniels. Though not as recent, Hayden has also performed twice with the University of Tulsa (TU) Symphony Orchestra as a selected soloist for the University’s 2012 and 2014 Concerto-Aria Competitions.

Hayden earned his Masters degrees in both Composition and Piano Performance and Pedagogy from OU in 2018, and earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Composition and Piano Performance from TU in 2014. His primary graduate teachers have been Marvin Lamb (composition), Jeongwon Ham (piano), and Barbara Fast (piano pedagogy), and his primary undergraduate teachers were Roger Price (piano and composition) and Diane Bucchianeri (chamber music).