Advent
Mark Hayes earned a B.M. degree in piano performance, graduating magna cum laude from Baylor University. However, his degree comprises only a small part of what he gained from those four years. During his college years his dream to become a composer and arranger of contemporary Christian and sacred music was born and nurtured. Today Mr. Hayes's choral and orchestral writing is widely acclaimed and performed internationally. He is well known for his unique choral settings which draw from diverse styles such as gospel, jazz, pop, folk and classical to achieve a truly "American sound." His personal catalog, compiled over the last sixteen years, includes over 450 published original compositions and arrangements, which are distributed by leading music publishers and regularly featured by the American Choral Directors' Association and Music Educators' National Conference. Mr. Hayes served as an adjunct professor of composition at Midwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, and has eight solo piano albums and twelve keyboard folios to his credit. In addition to his involvement in the sacred and secular choral music fields, Mr. Hayes is increasingly sought after as an orchestrator and conductor. He is a re-occurring recipient of the Standard Award from ASCAP and an album he arranged won a Dove Award, equivalent to a Grammy in gospel music.