We recently connected with Mallory Hayes and have shared our conversation below.

Mallory, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I began taking violin lessons when I was 5 years old. I always enjoyed it more than any of the other hobbies I took up as a kid, ballet, tap dance, soccer, and eventually decided to focus all of my energy on the violin. As I got older and I learned that it was possible to have a career as a violinist, I knew that is what I wanted to do. I would attend symphony concerts and look up on stage and dream of sitting up there when I was older. I knew I needed to start working hard and making choices that would help me to achieve this goal, so in high school I attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, which was a big step towards following this dream. It wasn’t easy to leave home as a high school student to attend an arts boarding school, but I knew it was an important step for me. I never doubted my path or questioned whether or not I had made the right choice pursuing music. It can be difficult at times and I have had to make a lot of sacrifices, but it is also worth it in the end to know that I have never given up on what I am passionate about.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been playing violin professionally for 10 years now., performing in a number of symphony orchestras in North Carolina and South Carolina. I love playing classical music and it was always my dream to play in a symphony orchestra, so I am very grateful that I have had the opportunity to perform with so many. I have been subbing with the NC Symphony for several years now and recently served as an Acting Second Violinist, a full time position. It has always been a goal of mine to be able to play with them, since I grew up watching them perform, so I feel very proud to be able to check that off my musical bucket list. Throughout my professional career I have also tried to expand outside the classical music world and pursue other passion projects. In college, I played in a group with my best friend, where we wrote and performed our own original songs together. I am hoping to professionally record some of these songs and release them sometime soon. Also, I will be featured on an upcoming single by another local musician, Brett Phillips, which I am extremely excited for everyone to hear.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative?

Collaboration. Practicing the violin can be very isolating, spending hours upon hours in a practice room trying to nail a difficult passage or get the musical phrasing just right. But when I am able to gather with other musicians, either in a symphony orchestra, a chamber group, or recording music together, that is where I gain the most fulfillment as a musician. Music is meant to be shared and it has a special ability of bringing people together. Some of the most important relationships to me have been formed through playing music together.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When COVID hit in 2020, I was playing with a number of symphony orchestras full time and that is solely how I was making a living. All of the upcoming rehearsals and performances were cancelled in the near future and nobody really knew when live music would be able to come back. I had come so far with pursuing my goals of becoming a professional violinist and doing music full time that I wasn’t prepared to completely give up on that. So I decided to pivot into private violin teaching. I now have a full violin studio of between 25 and 30 students. I was disappointed that I had to give up performing for a little while, but it also gave me the opportunity to build up a studio of some amazing students and discover that I have a talent for teaching. Teaching has helped me build up my confidence in myself and my abilities to share my talent. I am happy that live music has returned and I am back to being able to perform, but I am grateful for the new experiences that have come with teaching and plan to continue teaching alongside my busy performing schedule.

Contact Info:

• Website: MalloryHayes.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MalloryHayesViolinStudio
• Youtube: YouTube.com/93musicnotes