Hayden Iskander is a composer and pianist with an interest in lyricism and atmosphere. He likes bringing these qualities both through combining traditional and contemporary composition techniques in his own music, and through performing and programming music that represents them.

As a composer, Hayden’s preoccupations present themselves in much of his music. He is interested in the natural world, as well as imaginary worlds beyond our own. This interest is exemplified by his multiple collaborations with the Hypercube Ensemble, particularly with his miniature suite Ephemerals. His interest in lyricism and atmosphere also appears in more “absolute” compositions. Some of these, notably his second Nocturne and A Melody’s Journey, went on to be performed by Trio Fibonacci and the Atlantic Brass Quintet, respectively.

As a pianist, Hayden has leaned mostly towards the music of living composers in recent years. This is shown by both his multiple collaborations with fellow composer Zachary Daniels, and his program for the community Zoom concert series “The GRIND Coffeehouse,” which was entirely the music of living composers. Hayden has also worked to integrate new music into more traditional programs, even going so far as to commission music for such programs. He also loves playing chamber music, and has participated in collaborative projects ranging from Mozart to world premieres.

Hayden is currently based in Baltimore, Maryland, where he is pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Peabody Institute. Outside of music, Hayden enjoys video games (especially Pokémon!), and ballroom dancing.