Hatton has been conducting orchestras since 1984, when he served as associate conductor of the Central Valley Youth Orchestra in Stockton, California after completing a B.M., magna cum laude, at the University of the Pacific. In the next two years, while completing an M.M. in orchestral conducting at the New England Conservatory of Music, he was assistant conductor of the New England Conservatory Symphony and, in his final year, director of the Huntington Chamber Orchestra in Boston. While continuing to conduct the HCO, he was a conducting instructor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts from 1987 to 1989 and assistant conductor of the Boston Philharmonic in the 1988-1989 season.

In 1989, Hatton entered Ball State University in Indiana as a Doctoral Fellow in conducting, serving as assistant conductor of its orchestras and as conductor of the East Central Indiana Youth Orchestra during his three years at BSU. He also was assistant conductor of the Muncie Symphony Orchestra during that time and, in his final year, served as resident guest conductor of the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic in Czechoslovakia in the fall of 1991, and as a conducting assistant in the New World Chamber Orchestra in Indianapolis.

From 1992 to 1997, Hatton was conductor of the Moravian Opera Theater in Olomuc, the Czech Republic and, in his last year there, Artistic Director of the City Opera Theater of Usti nad Labem, also in the Czech Republic. While in that country, he served as on-site Director of the International Opera workshop in Opava from 1993 to 1997, organized by Symphonic Workshops, Ltd. of Toronto, Canada.

As an opera conductor, Hatton has conducted over 200 opera and ballet performances. More recently, he conducted Eugene, Oregon, Opera productions of the Marriage of Figaro, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Hansel and Gretel, and The Magic Flute.

Hatton served as Interim Director of the Oregon State University Symphonic Band and taught conducting at the university from 1998 to 2000. While at OSU, he conducted the Oregon premiere of Igor Stravinsky's Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments. In 2009, he guest conducted the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Columbia Symphony Orchestra in Portland, Washington-Idaho Symphony in Pullman/Moscow, and the Mt. Hood Pops Orchestra in Gresham, Oregon.

He presently resides in Vancouver, Washington, with his wife, Lynelle West, and their two children, Kyle and Kira.

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