❋ Hayley Suviste

Sound Art, Moving Image, Field Recording


Hayley’s practice is grounded in listening — to people, environments, and the stories and memories they hold. She works with oral histories, field recordings, and moving image, gathered through her own practice, community workshops, or drawn from archival sources. From these materials, she weaves sonic and visual worlds through installation, live performance, and long-form audio-visual and radiophonic work. Often using multi-channel and ambisonic sound, she creates environments that place the listener within them, where quieter details come into focus.

She is currently undertaking a practice-based PhD at the University of Manchester’s NOVARS Research Centre, funded by the NWCDTP. Her research explores oral histories as compositional material, alongside the ethical considerations of working with recorded voices in sound-based practice, including engagement with her own family histories and collaborative methods.

She has received commissions from Sounds from the Other City, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, North West Sound Heritage, NEWSUBSTANCE, Olympias Music Foundation, and Quays Culture, MediaCityUK and Mediale, for which she collaborated with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. She has been artist in residence at Maajaam (Estonia), Elektronmusikstudion EMS (Sweden), Forestry England, UoS Acoustic Laboratories, The Glasshouse International Centre for Music (Newcastle, UK), and Yorkshire Sound Women Network (University of Hull’s Ambisonic Studio). Her live performances have been presented at venues and festivals across the UK and internationally.

❋ Events
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Contact


Bandcamp // YouTube // Instagram


info@hayleysuviste.co.uk

❋ sound Walks, Workshops & Teaching



Alongside her artistic practice, Hayley works across sound-led education, research, and community contexts - developing workshops and teaching that encourage creative exploration, sonic memory, deep listening, and critical engagement with sound. 

The Manchester Ear

Hayley co-runs The Manchester Ear with Ryan Woods, a soundwalk project inviting communities to engage with their surroundings through deep listening - fostering curiosity and awareness of the everyday sonic environment. Soundwalks have been delivered with organisations including Castlefield Gallery, Auris Festival, Chorlton Arts Festival, the University of Manchester and Hospitalfield in Scotland, as well as campaigns such as Saving Ryebank Fields.

Castlefield Gallery, Sound Walk (Photo: Beth Clarke)
Auris Festival, Sound Walk (Photo: Richard Tyman)
Auris Festival, Sound Walk (Photo: Richard Tyman)


Workshops & Community Practice

As a workshop facilitator with Modus Arts, Hayley delivers the Soundhoppers programme across Greater Manchester, leading creative sound workshops for children aged 5–11 that introduce listening, sound-making and playful approaches to creativity. She also facilitates Soundhoppers Seniors, working with older adults to explore sound art, field recording and sonic memory, while considering different experiences of hearing and supporting participants to develop collaborative artworks. She has also delivered workshops and participatory sound projects for organisations including Ableton, Manchester Museum, BBC Philharmonic, Mediale, Delia Derbyshire Day and The Oral History Society.

Soundhopper Seniors, Age UK (Photo: Richard Tyman)
Soundhopper Seniors (Photo: Richard Tyman)
Soundhopper Seniors, Listening Event (Photo: Richard Tyman)
Soundhoppers, Sale Library (Photo: Trafford Libraries)

Higher Education Teaching

Hayley teaches undergraduate electroacoustic composition at the University of Manchester, supporting students with compositional aesthetics and methodologies, creative development and audio editing in Reaper. She provides one-to-one support through drop-in sessions, offering feedback on students’ projects and creative processes, alongside marking and assessment. She has also delivered guest lectures at institutions including City St George’s, University of London.