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17 year old Tyler Chen Hayford’s passion for playing and studying the piano began at age 5. He currently studies with Hans Boepple.
Tyler has played for Angela Hewitt, Gabriel Kwok, Hung-Kuan Chen, Ory Shihor, Pascal Nemirovski, Milan Vitek, and Matti Raekallio, and has been a scholarship attendee of renowned summer music programs such as the Meadowmount School of Music, the Colburn Academy Piano Festival, and California Summer Music.
In consecutive years since the age of 10, Tyler has been the winner of first place awards from the Santa Cruz County Music Teachers' Association of California (MTAC), and a performer at the Carmel Bach Festival. In January 2012, he placed first in the US Open Music Competition. He has played twice at UCSC Recital Hall as a two time Grand Prize winner of the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival Youth Chamber Music Competition and was the featured artist in the festival’s “Emerging Artists” concert in 2012. He has been interviewed multiple times on KUSP and KSCO radio regarding his performances. Tyler, whose recent solo benefit recital achieved critical acclaim and raised over $2500 for Typhoon Haiyan victims in the Philippines, was a winner of the 28th Annual Celia Mendez Young Pianist's Beethoven Competition, first place winner of Pacific Music Society piano competition as well as being accepted to the prestigious MTAC’s Young Artist Guild (YAG). He performed at the YAG award recital at the MTAC State Convention on June 27, 2014. Tyler also has studied pipe organ with Vlada Volkova Moran since 2011 and has performed at benefit concerts for the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival, at the annual Organist's Kaleidophone in Santa Cruz, and in Young Organist Recitals of the American Guild of Organists. He is the organist at Messiah Lutheran Church in Santa Cruz. Tyler routinely brings music to local senior centers on weekends and holidays.
In addition to his enthusiasm for music and playing it with peers, Tyler enjoys soccer, laughing with or at friends, and photography. He can often be found scouting new places to shoot photos with fellow photographers, or less productively scrolling through his Instagram.
