Dr. Hailstork has written numerous works for chorus, solo voice, various chamber ensembles, band, and orchestra. Among his compositions are Celebration which has been recorded by the Detroit Symphony; Out Of The Depths which won the 1977 Belwin-Mills Max Winkler Award presented by the Band Directors National Association; American Guernica which received first prize in the Virginia College Band Directors’ 1983 national contest; and Mourn Not The Dead which received the 1971 Ernest Bloch Award for choral composition.

During the 1980s the Boys Choir of Harlem and the piano duo Delphin and Romaine added music by Hailstork to their repertoire.

The 1990s began auspiciously when a consortium of five orchestras commissioned a piano concerto to be premiered by Leon Bates. Less than a year later, Dr. Hailstork received an award from the Barlow Endowment for Music commissioning a work for the Baltimore Symphony; in 1991 Celebration was performed by the Chicago Symphony led by Maestro Daniel Barenboim. In 1995, the chamber work Consort Piece was awarded first prize by the University of Delaware Festival of Contemporary Music.

After 20 years as Professor of Music and Composer-in-Residence at Norfolk State University, Dr. Hailstork joined the music faculty at Old Dominion University last year.