Hayden Chisholm (born May 27, 1975) is a New Zealand jazz, improvised, and contemporary classical saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. Born in Ōtāhuhu and raised in New Plymouth, Chisholm began playing clarinet at age nine and switched to alto saxophone at eleven. In 1991, he received the prize for Most Outstanding Jazz Musician at the National Jazz Festival in Tauranga. Chisholm attended the Musik Hochschule in Cologne on a DAAD scholarship and received the New Zealand Young Achievers Award in 1997. He released his debut solo album, Circe, in 1996, introducing a system of micro-tonal fingerings. His discography featured the 13-CD box sets 13 Views of the Heart's Cargo (2013) and Cusp of Oblivion (2016). Chisholm collaborated with artist Rebecca Horn, toured with David Sylvian, and performed as a member of Root 70. In 2015, he contributed to the project Waywords and Meansigns, setting James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake to music.
