Bryan Hays, OSB

(1920-2017)

Father Bryan Hays (as he preferred to be called) was a monk of Saint John’s Abbey, in Collegeville, Minnesota. A self-taught pianist, he won the 1949 George Gershwin Award for his composition Pastorale and Allegro. Following a period of study, including time as a student of Aaron Copland, Hays was called to Catholicism and monastic life, professing vows at Saint John’s in 1958. In addition to his ongoing work as a composer, he taught French and First-Year Colloquium courses at Saint John’s University. His notable compositions include five operas, instrumental pieces, and more than two hundred hymns.

The Bryan Hays Collection complements the Sacred Music Collections of Alcuin Library, Saint John’s University. It includes manuscripts and published works by Father Hays.