Lauren Hayes is a musician, improviser, and sound artist who builds and performs with hybrid analogue/digital instruments. She is Assistant Professor 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), and creative music practice (PhD).

Her research centres around embodied music cognition, enactive approaches to digital instrument design, and haptic technologies. She has been published in major journals in her field (Contemporary Music Review, Organised Sound, Computer Music Journal). Her work on embodied music education, pedagogy, and technology for children won her the Best Paper Award at the International Computer Music Conference (2016).

Her music lies somewhere between free improv, experimental pop, techno, and noise, and she regularly performs at international festivals. Over the last decade, she has developed bespoke haptic technologies with which to investigate the aesthetics of touch, and improve music perception for people who experience hearing loss. She was recently invited to share this research at Ableton's LOOP festival (2017).

Hayes reviews for major conferences and is Paper Chair for TEI in 2019. She also adjudicates for awards and festivals, including the Electroacoustic Improvisation Symposium (2018) and the PRS Foundation’s Oram Awards (2017, 2018), which recognise the achievements of women working in sound and music. She is an associate of the New BBC Radiophonic Workshop and At-Large Director of the International Computer Music Association.

laurensarahhayes.com