Orchestra Director

Michael Hayden

Mr. Hayden serves as the Director of Orchestras at Wauwatosa East High School. He received his Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Colorado at Boulder and his Master of Music in Music Education from Northwestern University. During his tenure at Northwestern, Mr. Hayden studied conducting with Dr. Robert Hasty, composition with Dr. Peter Webster and Dr. Maud Hickey, and string pedagogy with Dr. James Kjelland. Prior to joining the Wauwatosa School District, Mr. Hayden taught orchestra, digital music production, rock band, and music theory, most recently for the Whitnall (WI) and Whitefish Bay (WI) School Districts.

Additionally, Michael is a frequent presenter at various state, national, and international music conferences in the areas of music technology, secondary general music, composition, technology integration, and personalized learning. Most recently, Michael led a workshop on music technology curriculum design at Ableton’s Loop Festival, held in Berlin, Germany. 

Michael is the former state technology chair on the Wisconsin Music Education Association (WMEA) Council and the North Central Representative on the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Council on Music Composition. He is a regular contributor to the Wisconsin School Musician and has published articles with Leading Notes, JamHub, the Music in a Minuet series (NAfME), and Music Educators’ Journal (NAfME). Finally, Michael is also an associate lecturer in music education at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. 

Outside of teaching, Michael, his wife (also a Wisconsin music teacher), and two daughters enjoy spending time exploring the beautiful Wisconsin outdoors. He and his family are fans of our National Parks System and plan to visit as many as possible.