Lauren Hayes

Lauren Hayes is an improviser, sound artist, and scholar who is recognized for her embodied approach to computer music. She is Associate Professor of Sound Studies within the School of Arts, Media and Engineering at Arizona State University where she founded the research group Practice and Research in Enactive Sonic Arts (PARIESA). She holds degrees in Mathematics and Philosophy (MA), Digital Composition and Performance (MSc, dist.), and Creative Music Practice (PhD), all from the University of Edinburgh, UK.

Her research centers around embodied and enactive music cognition, enactive approaches to digital instrument design, and haptic technologies, and has been published in major journals in her field (Contemporary Music Review, Organised Sound, Computer Music Journal). Her scholarly work has won Best Paper Awards at two key conferences in her field: firstly, her research on embodied music education, pedagogy, and technology for children was awarded at the International Computer Music Conference in 2016, and was also profiled by Cycling ’74; the second award was presented at New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) in 2020 for her research addressing political and epistemological themes in collaboration with Adnan Marquez-Borbon.

As a performer and improviser, Hayes explores new strategies for live electronic performance by investigating the performer's physical relationship with the digital realm. Her music lies somewhere between free improv, experimental pop, techno, and noise, and she regularly performs internationally, including at major festivals such as Moogfest (USA), Tectonics (Scotland), and Norberg (Sweden). Commissions include EFG London Jazz Festival (2015); four sold-out solo performances for Sonica Festival (2016) in Hamilton Mausoleum, UK, famous for holding the record for the longest echo of any man-made structure; a live BBC Radio 3 broadcast performance for hcmf// as part of its International Showcase (2017); and a co-commissioned work by hcmf// and University of Huddersfield's FluCoMa project (2019). In 2024, she represented the USA at the historic ISCM World New Music Days festival in the Faroe Islands.

Hayes composes haptic music that can be experienced as vibration throughout the body, and has given multisensory workshops for various groups, including those with sensory impairment, learning difficulties, and autism. Her person-centered approaches often result in custom built instruments designed specifically for a user. Over the last decade, she has developed bespoke haptic technologies, which has led to current research projects which include investigating the aesthetics of touch, and improving music perception for people who experience hearing loss. She was invited to share this research at Ableton's LOOP festival in Berlin (2017).

Hayes has served as the Paper Chair for Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI) in 2019. She also regularly reviews for conferences and journals and adjudicates for awards and festivals, including Electroacoustic Improvisation Symposium (EIS 2018) and the PRS Foundation’s Oram Awards (2017-19), which recognize the achievements of women and gender minorities working in sound and music. In 2016, she founded the AME Listening Group, which hosts listening, workshop, and performance opportunities for students throughout ASU. She has served as associate of the New BBC Radiophonic Workshop and Director-At-Large of the International Computer Music Association (ICMA). She is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Music, Technology & Education (Intellect).