Biography
Aaron Hynds is a West Virginia-based audio engineer, tubist, educator, and composer. His creative practice is centered on the intersection of technology and live performance, with a specialty in the interpretation of contemporary music. As an audio engineer, his focus is on live recording techniques in both traditional and non-traditional venues, as well as experimental recording techniques and acoustic music capture. Starting in Fall 2025, he will be the Assistant Professor of Music Industry and Technology for the Marshall University School of Music, with previous appointments for Indiana University Bloomington, the University of Kentucky, and the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
As an engineer, Hynds’ recent projects include full-length CDs of music featuring the euphonium and tuba (Monkey to the Sky by Robert Benton, 2020, Potenza Music, and Widening Circles by Daniel Rowland, 2023, Mark Custom Records) and recordings of his own work as a solo tuba player specializing in contemporary music (Berserker: New Music for Tuba, Vol. 1, 2021, Breathing Machine Records). Upcoming projects include an album of new works by Calypsus Brass, as well as new realizations of older works for tuba and electronics.
Hynds’ musical background is centered around performance, having performed on the tuba across the United States since 2008. As a specialist in contemporary music, he has performed at events such as the inaugural Omaha Under the Radar Festival, the 2014 International Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt, Germany, Null Point music series in Buffalo, New York, Constellation-Chicago, and the 2016 and 2017 New Music Gatherings.
Besides his work as a performer, Hynds is also a composer and new media artist. Recent premieres include Bit rot for tuba and computer (for tubist Daniel Rowland) and SID 6581 for amplified violin and computer (for violinist Abdel Anzaldua). Upcoming works include hollow town hums for xiao, xun, and computer (for Hong-Da Chin) and a concert-length work for tuba, live electronics, and live video titled The ghosts who learned to breathe.
Aaron earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music degrees from the University of Northern Iowa and University of Wisconsin–Madison, respectively, before completing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Contemporary Music from Bowling Green State University (the first brass player to graduate from the program since its inception in 2006). He studied with the following educators, all of whom directly contributed to his musical, intellectual, and personal growth: David Saltzman, John Stevens, Jeffrey Funderburk, Sharon Huff, Thomas Miller, James Culbertson, Steve Schepper, Thomas Barry, Jonathan Schwabe, and Jerome Soneson.