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A native of Buffalo, New York, Hayden Denesha is a passionate conductor known for his intensity and his dedication to the education of audiences and young musicians. Presently, Hayden serves as Associate Conductor to the Rock Hill Symphony Orchestra and as a Graduate Assistant Conductor for the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Most recently, Hayden served as Assistant Conductor and Youth Orchestra Conductor for the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra where he led professional children’s concerts, served as the orchestras primary cover conductor, and helped grow its Youth Orchestra program into one of the largest in the state of South Carolina. Hayden has also enjoyed academic appointments such as Assistant Conductor for the University of South Carolina Opera department and Assistant Conductor of Orchestras and Opera for the State University of New York at Fredonia.
Hayden has trained at numerous music festivals as a student as well as serving as an assistant conductor. These institutions have included the Pierre Monteux School, Miami Summer Music Festival, PRISMA Festival in Western Canada, Conductor’s Institute at Bard, and Conductors Institute of South Carolina. As an advocate for contemporary programming Hayden has premiered numerous commissions and has extensive experience working with new media. Hayden is one of the few conductors in the world trained in accompanying silent films with live orchestra. |
Hayden is presently a conducting student of Marin Alsop (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra) at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University where he is a candidate for the Graduate Performance Diploma in Conducting. Hayden is also a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Orchestral Conducting at the University of South Carolina under the direction of Scott Weiss. Hayden’s additional conducting teachers have included David Rudge, Donald Portnoy, Grezgorz Nowak, Michael Jinbo, and Paul Vermel. Notable collaborations for Hayden have included artists such as Jennifer Higdon, Robert Moran, Dennis James and Rachel Lee-Priday.
In addition to the studies above, Hayden holds undergraduate degrees from the State University of New York at Fredonia in Music Education and Viola as well as a Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting. Outside of conducting, Hayden is equally at home as a performer on viola having previously held section positions in the South Carolina Philharmonic, Aiken Symphony Orchestra, and Western New York Chamber Orchestra. He presently resides in Baltimore, MD with is fiancée Mary Kate and is an avid Buffalo Bills fan. |
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hayden_denesha_conductor_resume_2019.pdf |