Pandemonium was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic Very Young Composers Program for the Very Young Composers Showcase and marks Hayden’s first work inspired by visual art. The piece draws inspiration from John Martin’s 1841 painting Le Pandemonium, which Hayden encountered at the Louvre during the summer of 2023.
“Blue Summer” was premiered at the Open House Weekend Celebrations of the new David Geffen Hall, symbolizing for Hayden the return of normalcy and shared music-making after the pandemic — a moment of optimism and reconnection through sound.
Inspired by America’s legacy of the first moon landing in 1969, “Apollo II: The Paradox” reflects both the historical triumph of human achievement and the deep personal grief of astronaut Neil Armstrong, who left on the moon a bracelet belonging to his two-year-old daughter, lost to brain cancer.