Collaborative Composer and Live Musician
Intrinsically curious and explorative with the potential of sound and music to create experiences and shift emotional states, Hayley works intuitively and responsively as both a composer and performer to interact with her audience and create a mood. She sensitively utilises different tools and technologies, from surround sound to raw voice to achieve this.
This page showcases her recent projects and commissions.
- 2019: Wrestling The Walrus with the 154 Collective. Composer/ Live Musician
A 154 Collective and Royal Exchange Theatre co-production – winner of the 2018 Hodgkiss Award.
WRESTLING THE WALRUS is a new play about companionship, connections and the millions of tiny memories that make up a person’s history.
- 2018-present: The Musical Botanist with Nick Lewis, a 154 Collective project. Performances at Bradford Festival and across the Yorkshire and NW region.
- 2018: Of the River: Co-producer, vocalist, project manager commissioned by the Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership
Dearne natives, Andy Seward, Hayley Youell and James Lockey formed a collective to create a new multidisciplinary artwork in response to the River Dearne.
Taking a contemporary spin on the radio ballad format, the artwork blends music, sound and film created and captured locally. The work also features collaborations with local poet/songwriter Ray Hearne, nationally acclaimed choral arranger Barry Coope and the quintessential ‘Thurnscoe Sound’, Thurnscoe Male Harmonic Voice Choir.
- 2017: TORN: Installation /Collaboration with Lee Karen Stow and Hull City of Culture 2017 @ Humber Street Gallery, November 6th- December 31st, 2017
Photo: Scattered © Lee Karen Stow
TORN is a digital photographic, sound and mixed media installation led by documentary photographer Lee Karen Stow in collaboration with sound artists Hayley Youell and Andy Seward, textile artist Liz Knight and members of the Hull Women’s Refugee Group.
For more details about the exhibition: http://www.humberstreetgallery.co.uk/exhibition/torn_
- 2017: Artist Lock In, ArtHouse Jersey, Elizabeth Castle, Jersey
The Artist Lock-In is the flag-ship residency project produced by ArtHouse Jersey, in association with WildWorks. It is professionally facilitated and brings 12 international artists from a variety of disciplines, ages, backgrounds and experiences together to learn from each other and respond to their surroundings.
The 2017 Artist Lock In residency took 12 artists to Elizabeth Castle, in Jersey Channel Islands, between Sunday 1st – Tuesday 11th October 2017.
Film by Todd Macdonald
- 2017: The Gargoyles of Selby with 154 Collective Selby Arts Festival, July
- 2017: No Witness- Original Song/Soundscape in response to collaboration with Moved By Art, Hull 2017, Somewhere Becoming Sea project. Performed live at WORM Festival, June 2017 @ Humber Street Gallery
- 2017: Wrestling The Walrus, 154 Collective. Music and soundscape collaboration with Nick Lewis for Leeds Libraries, July- August 2017
- 2017: The Elixir Cabinet- collaboration with Fabric Lenny for the Culture Cures, Beam Wakefield
In collaboration with artist Fabric Lenny, Hayley designed and delivered pop-ups in Ossett and Pontefract Markets engaging visitors in conversations about wellbeing and mindful experiences to encourage creativity and self-care. She composed a track ‘Open The Door’ , which was part of the immersive “moment out” inside the cabinet.
For more information about the project, click here
- 2016: Lost in Something Exhibition with artist Michelle Clarke Stables. Sound/Song/Installation at The Point, Doncaster.
- 2016: Intense Attachment, Wayne Sables Project. Hayley engaged Nick Lewis as a collaborator and musician to develop new songs and live music for this project.
- 2016/15: Under The Bed, 154 Collective
Hayley collaborated with musicians/composers Nick Lewis and James Dey on the score for Under The Bed in Autumn 2015. She also toured as a live musician with the production. Under The Bed toured extensively in Autumn 2016 across the North East.
Fabric Lenny, Artist and Collaborator, 154 Collective shared,
” Hayley brought a wonderful energy to the musical development of Under the Bed, adding additional depth and texture to the compositions and performances within the show. She’s a real treasure and a pleasure to collaborate with.”
Hayley studied Theatre, Film and Television at York St John University (2002-2005). She majored in sound design and directing and gained professional sound credits during her internship in 2004 at The Crucible, Sheffield.
She has been commissioned to work collaboratively with Creative Recovery on several installations using music, digital arts and performance in the public realm.
“Mesmerising, haunting, beautiful”
“Loved, loved, loved the live music”
Audience Feedback, Under The Bed, Autumn 2015
“Hayley is not only passionate about her art, she is incredibly knowledgable. Her vision enabled me to take my work Intense Attachment to a whole new level.”
Wayne Sables, Artistic Director, Wayne Sables Project
Hayley Youell 