Kayla Hayes

With a unique background that melds the worlds of music performance, business innovation, and arts marketing, Kayla Hayes (she/her) is a versatile marketer with a passion for redefining and reinvigorating the music industry. Currently serving as the Director of Digital Marketing & Promotions for the Colorado Symphony, Kayla employs over ten years of marketing experience and two decades of orchestral knowledge to create strategy-based campaigns that have helped the symphony flourish in Colorado.

Kayla began her journey with the Colorado Symphony in 2017 following her previous role as a client services, digital media, and public relations specialist at the marketing agency Vanguard Communications. She spearheads the symphony’s digital and traditional advertising, increasing community awareness and ticket sales through a diverse marketing mix of content marketing and SEO, paid search, social media, email campaigns, tv/audio media planning, outdoor advertising, and unique organizational collaborations. Kayla also directs the symphony’s multimedia initiatives, working closely with local photographers and videographers to create visual content that tells the extraordinary story of the Colorado Symphony.

Kayla holds bachelor’s degrees in Cello Performance and Business Management & Innovation from Colorado State University where she became widely involved in the special events and music industries. She later went on to receive a master’s degree in Arts & Culture Marketing from the University of Denver to help cultivate her passion for championing the arts. Her academic research has included extensive analysis in the use of digital brand storytelling to increase modern symphonies’ relevance for new and underserved consumers.

As a cellist and lover of all-things-music, Kayla continues to perform extensively around Colorado and has had the opportunity to share the stage with some of the nation’s top musicians, including Deltron 3030, DeVotchka, Streetlight Manifesto, and Pretty Lights. For 15 years, she has owned and operated Nexus Strings – a group of professional, performance-based string ensembles dedicated to breaking musical stereotypes by bridging the gap between classical and contemporary genres. Kayla has also arranged much of Nexus’ modern repertoire and loves seeing clients’ and audiences’ new-found excitement for string music.

Kayla was born and raised in Colorado and grew up not only attending Colorado Symphony concerts, but also admiring the organization’s innovative approach to orchestral music – an experience that shaped her long-term career goals. Outside of work, she has a deep connection to the outdoors and loves to ski, hike, mountain bike, waterski, attend concerts at Red Rocks, and enjoy everything that colorful Colorado has to offer with her husband, Evan. She also has an insatiable travel bug that has taken her on culture, music, food, and outdoor adventures across the world.