While attending Baylor, Hayes “got a chance to do some music editing and various things” at a music publishing company in Waco, Texas, where Baylor is located.Īt the time, church music was changing and “the sky was the limit as far as style was concerned.” He grew up in the church and started piano lessons at age 10. His works, both sacred and secular, have garnered praise and awards for decades, including a Dove Award in 1986 for arranging, orchestrating and co-producing the album “I’ve Just Seen Jesus.” He also is a recurring recipient of the Standard Award from ASCAP and in 2010 was honored with the Award for Exemplary Leadership in Christian Music from Baylor University’s Center for Christian Music Studies. at the United Church of Christ, 4100 Chestnut Hill Drive. Hayes also will be doing a workshop at the MCFTA auditorium Saturday at 9 a.m., and he will be conducting music Sunday at 10 a.m. Video of Hayes conducting the “Dies Irae” movement of the work at the festival can be seen online at “I’m very excited to conduct that” in Midland, he said. “It was amazing, being in that place,” he said. The 35-minute, six-movement “Requiem” was performed as part of their final concert. They performed several concerts, attended others, took a day trip to Assisi and had a chance for some sightseeing.
for a choir that had its first rehearsal their first night in Rome. He selected 150 singers from around the U.S. “It’s a festival of 10 days of concerts … that occur in various papal basilicas around Rome,” said Hayes, who is only the third American conductor to be invited to participate in the festival. He recently conducted the “Requiem” as part of the Festival of Sacred Music and Art at the Vatican in Rome. Hayes will be sharing conducting duties with Center Stage Choirs Director Jim Hohmeyer. The piece is dedicated to Midland resident Phyllis Ferris, a UCC choir member - and Hayes’ cousin.Īlso on the program will be Hayes’ “Requiem,” which premiered in New York last year, as well as several other works that he either arranged or composed. “It’s rhythmic, it’s syncopated … There’s a fun interplay between the various voice parts,” Hayes said.
This particular setting of the song is lively, he said.