Casey J. Hayes

Dr. Casey J. Hayes earned his bachelor and Master of Music in music education from Butler University in Indianapolis, IN and PhD in music education from the Steinhardt School of Education, New York University (2009). His doctoral research focused on educational outreach within Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender choral ensembles. His studies of the LGBTQI+ Choral Movement led him to be the co-music director of the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus. In 2007, Casey founded the Gay Men’s Chorus of Manhattan, an ensemble which raised funds for not-for-profit organizations in need across the tri-state area; the first ensemble of its kind in the United States. He currently serves as professor and the A.J. Thurston Chair of Music, music department chair, and director of choral activities at Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana. He also serves as the Artistic Director of the Quarryland Men’s Chorus, an ensemble of gay, bisexual, and transgender men and their straight allies located in Bloomington, IN. Dr. Hayes has addressed audiences on issues surrounding LGBTQI+ Rights and Culture at conferences around the globe and remains in high demand on issues involving Education, the Roman Catholic Church, and their intersection within the paradigm of human rights. Dr. Hayes’ interest in Weimar Germany and its brief yet beautiful emergence of LGBTQI+ culture grew out of his interest in music written to disseminate gay culture, such as Mischa Spoliansky’s Das Lila Lied. His desire to learn more about this vibrant, yet largely unknown period of music history led him to discover the music of Willy Rosen and his fascinating but largely unknown life. In 2021, Casey was selected as an Austrian Fulbright scholar and was named the Fulbright-Botstiber Visiting Professor of Austrian-American Studies at the University for Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. His research topic, Rosa Wien; Gay Rights, Schlager and Self-Exile: 1918-1938 focused upon the plight of Vienna’s LGBTQI+ and Jewish cabaret communities during the Anschluss, and their recreation of Viennese cabaret in the United States. Through the eyes of gay Weimar cabaret performer Paul O’Montis, his research re-examined the role Europe played in the early days of emerging LGBTQI+ Rights in Berlin and Vienna. Currently, Dr. Hayes’ developing partnership with Literaturhaus Wien enables him to continue his research of Vienna’s cabaret history throughout the coming years.