About

I am a composer, improviser, vocalist and cellist who grew up in northern China and has studied and worked in Connecticut and Massachusetts in the US for seven years. My works span classical, folk, jazz, improvisation, multimedia, poetry, dance, environmental studies, and studies of psychiatry and trauma. My music takes roots in contemporary issues such as cultural displacement and narrative justice (who tells the story, how stories are told, if emotions equally represented and expressed as rational knowledge, etc.) as well as musical and literary traditions from East Asia and Africa. I usually found my voice in the ocean of historical gaps, and I aim to create narratives and imaginations that reveal and reflect on what has been hidden or forgotten by our society. I aspire to create nuanced expressions that open up spaces for understanding and vulnerability.   

My music is deeply connected to nature -- I have been exploring multiple ways of integrating the studies of nature with music using new technology and diverse media. I am inspired by traveling in nature and the contours, stories, and memories of the land. My music dives into the culture and communities that have been nurtured by nature by including graphic scores, field recordings, oral history, historical narratives, and literature. I have also dedicated myself to promoting environmental activism and education through working with scientists at the White Mountains and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on translating environmental data, sounds from acoustic monitoring devices, and recordings into music and multimedia performances using acoustic and digital instruments/softwares. These interdisciplinary collaborations stimulate a more organic musical language that can speak to more diverse audiences and younger generations.

As a performer, improvisor, and scholar, I enjoy playing and learning music & musical traditions from different places around the world such as indigenous and folk music in Southern/Western/Southwestern China, Kabuki Theater from Japan, African drum and dance, jazz and improvisation, and more. I have played with musicians from North and South America, West Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and Europe in various ensembles and musical festivals/residencies, and embraced the energy, rhythms, communities, and history of diverse countries and cultures, which constantly nurtures my intellectual and emotional strength. 

My music evolves between traditions and innovations, and I aspire to delve into new narratives and imagination through exploring soundscapes and multimedia, cross-genre experiments, and responding to historical and contemporary questions. 

Hayley holds a Bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University (B.A. Art History & East Asian Studies) and Master’s Degree from New England Conservatory (Contemporary Improvisation).

Performance Venues/ Collaborators/ Supporters:

Hayley’s music and interdisciplinary projects have been presented at/supported by the Banff Centre’s Soundweavings Intercultural Music Residency, the Experimental Institute at Antenna Cloud Farm, Silkroad Global Musician Workshop, Collage New Music’s Collage Composers Colloquium, New Amsterdam Records Composers Lab, New England Conservatory Jordan Hall, Boston Conservatory, Horizon Ensemble, Pao Arts Center, Boston Public Libraries, Newsfeed Café, Mass General Hospital, Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Library and Archives, Chinese Historical Society of New England (CHSNE), Mansfield Freeman Asian Scholars Association, Edward Augustus Russell House, City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, New England Foundation for the Arts, William Lankford Memorial Fund, Squire Fund, Ruth and Hank Fins Grant, Big Ears Festival Artist Fellowship.

Hayley has collaborated, studied, performed with innovative Komungo virtuoso Jin-Hi Kim, organist and jazz improviser Alcee Chriss, composer/improvisor Carla Kihlstedt, jazz guitarist, bassist, composer Joe Morris, cellist Mike Block, balafon musician Balla Kouyaté, West African music performer and ethnographer John Wesley Dankwa; composer/improvisor Nima Janmohammadi, and many more…