daron aric hagen

Daron Hagen is one of America's most versatile, prolific, and respected composers. All eight of his major operas are currently in production or revival somewhere in the U.S., Europe, or Asia. His orchestral, chamber, and song catalogues are frequently programmed internationally.

Mr. Hagen's activities include stage direction, conducting; and engagements as a collaborative pianist, artistic director, writer, and librettist.

He has collaborated with distinguished musicians such as Leonard Bernstein, JoAnn Falletta, Gary Graffman, Nathan Gunn, Jaime Laredo, David Alan Miller, Sharon Robinson, Gerard Schwarz, Leonard Slatkin, and Robert Spano, among others. His work has been widely commissioned and performed by most of North America's major musical institutions, and numerous institutions abroad, including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony, Seattle Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Curtis Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Swan (UK), Seattle Opera, Opera Theater of Ireland, as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Louvre, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing), and Royal Albert Hall.

Mr. Hagen has served frequently as conductor and collaborative pianist for recordings of his works. His music can be heard on the Albany, Arsis, Bridge, Clarion, GPR, Klavier, Naxos, and New World/CRI labels, among others.

In 2012, he was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship. He has also received the Kennedy Center Friedheim Prize, two Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Fellowships, ASCAP and BMI prizes, and the Seattle Opera Chairman's Award. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Curtis Institute of Music and of the Juilliard School, he has taught at Bard College, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the Princeton Atelier, and fulfilled numerous composer-in-residencies around the U.S. He is a Lifetime Member of the Corporation of Yaddo, former President of the Lotte Lehmann Foundation, and a Trustee of the Douglas Moore Fund for American Opera.

A complete list of Mr. Hagen's over 250 published art songs, song cycles, and choral works, eight operas, four symphonies, twelve concerti, and over forty chamber works may be found, along with information about upcoming performances and premieres, at his website: www.daronhagen.com.

"Hagen's work is both highly original and gripping; restless, questioning music that never loses its heart."

— Opera Now Magazine

"Hagen is a composer born to write operas."

— Chicago Tribune

"Hagen has a gift for big, sweeping tunes."

— The New York Times

"Hagen's inspired, soaring melodies send the characters looping off in arias of self-revelation."

— The Times of London

"Hagen's opera Amelia is, in many ways, a work of genius."

— The Huffington Post

"To say that Daron Hagen is a remarkable musician is to underrate him.
Daron is music."

— Ned Rorem, Opera News

1981

Prayer for Peace for string orchestra

1982

Andersonville Overture for orchestra
Wind Songs for oboe, bassoon, and horn
Stanzas for cello and chamber orchestra
Echo's Songs for voice and piano

1984

Three Silent Things for soprano and piano quartet
Divertimento for viola, harp, and vibraphone
Piano Trio No. 1: Trio Concertante
Suite for Solo Violin
A Walt Whitman Requiem for soprano, chorus & string orchestra

1985

Vägen for mixed chorus and piano
The Voice Within for mixed chorus and piano
Occasional Notes for organ
Suite for Solo Cello
Symphony No. 1
String Quartet No. 1
Sonata No. 1 for flute and piano

1986

Grand Line: a Tribute to Leonard Bernstein for orchestra
Love Songs for voice and piano
Piano Trio No. 2: J'entends
Suite for Solo Viola

1987

Higher, Louder, Faster! etude for solo cello
Rapture and Regret diptych for soprano, cello and piano

1988

The Presence Absence Makes for flute and string quartet

1989

Harp Trio for flute, viola and harp
Jot! for clarinet, marimba, and piano
Little Prayers for mixed chorus

1990

Heliotrope for chamber orchestra
Symphony No. 2 for large orchestra
Muldoon Songs song cycle for voice and piano
Sennets, Cortege, and Tuckets for band

1991

Dear Youth song cycle for soprano, flute and piano
Shining Brow, opera
Philharmonia for large orchestra

1992

Fire Music for large orchestra

1993

Lost in Translation for voice, oboe, cello and harpsichord
Everything Must Go! for brass quintet

1994

Music from Shining Brow for brass quintet
Concerto for horn, with winds and strings
Joyful Music for mezzo-soprano, chorus and orchestra
Concerto for flügelhorn and wind (or string) ensemble

1995

The Waking Father song cycle for six male voices a cappella
Concerto for Brass Quintet

1996

Merrill Songs song cycle for voice and piano
Concerto for cello and orchestra
Built Up Dark for strings, winds and brass
Taliesin: Choruses from Shining Brow for chorus and orchestra
Stewards of Your Bounty for trumpet, chorus and orchestra
An Overture to Vera for 14 instruments
Litany of Reconciliation for mixed chorus

1997

Gandhi's Children for treble voices and handbells
Hope for mixed chorus and any three single line instruments
Duo for Violin and Cello
Postcards from America for orchestra
Vera of Las Vegas, nightmare cabaret opera in one act
Songs of Madness and Sorrow, monodrama

1998

Bandanna, opera in two acts & a prologue
Symphony No. 3 (rev. 2010) for large orchestra
Concerto for cello and wind orchestra
Silent Night, for mixed chorus, cello & percussion
Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra
Night, Again for band

1999

Bandanna Overture for band
Qualities of Light for piano
Forward! for brass and percussion

2000

Serenade for 10 instruments
The Heart of the Stranger song cycle for voice and piano
Love in a Life song cycle for voice and piano
Light Fantastic, cantata for tenor, chorus, & mixed ensemble
Phantoms of Myself song cycle for voice and piano
Suddenly for orchestra (or band)
Wedding Dances from Bandanna for band
Much Ado for orchestra

2001

Nocturne for piano and strings
Figments song cycle for voice and piano
Larkin Songs song cycle for voice and piano
Advance for orchestra
Angels for string orchestra
Concerto for oboe and string orchestra (or quintet)

2002

We're All Here for mixed chorus & ensemble or piano
Snapshot No. 1 for string quartet
Piano Variations
Seven Last Words for piano LH and orchestra

2003

Susurrus for orchestra
Letting Go for voice and piano
String Quartet No. 2: Alive in a Moment for baritone & strings
Chamber Symphony for 13 instruments
Sonata No. 2 for flute and piano

2004

Romeo and Juliet for flute, cello and orchestra
Sappho Songs for two female voices and cello
I Had Rather for mixed chorus

2005

Vertue for mixed chorus and piano
The Antient Concert, dramatic recital in one act
Flight Music song cycle for treble chorus & string quartet

2006

O, For Such a Dream for soprano solo,chorus & piano
Orpheus and Eurydice for violin, cello, piano and orchestra
Piano Trio No. 3: Wayfaring Stranger
Snapshot No. 2 for string quartet

2007

Piano Trio No. 4: Angel Band
Agincourt Fanfare for brass and timpani
Songs of Experience for voice and piano
Masquerade for violin, cello and orchestra

2008

Symphony No. 4 for mixed chorus and orchestra
New York Stories, three one act operas

2009

Amelia, two act opera in six scenes
Suite for Piano
Three Celtic Songs for three treble voices

2010

Song of Gabriel for mixed chorus and string orchestra
Book of Days for clarinet, viola, and piano
Little Nemo in Slumberland magic opera in two acts
Con Gai: a greeting and a farewell for orchestra
Genji concerto for koto and orchestra

2011

Songbook concerto for violin, string orchestra, harp & percussion
Five Sky Interludes from Amelia for orchestra
Vegetable Verselets song cycle for voice and piano
After Words song cycle for soprano, tenor and piano

2012

The George Washington Suite operatic skit in one scene
Secrets My Mother Told Me for solo koto
Four Nocturnes for piano
String Quartet No. 3: Missa Brevis

2013

A Woman in Morocco lyric opera in two acts
Sonata for Cello and Piano

Conducting in Washington.


Teaching in the Princeton Atelier.


Coaching the Amelia Piano Trio.


Backstage with the NY cast of
The Antient Concert.


Composing Shining Brow at VCCA.

With Little Nemo in Slumberland
librettist J.D. McClatchy.


With Amelia librettist Gardner McFall.


With Vera of Las Vegas librettist Paul Muldoon.


Composing at Bellagio.


Stage directing Just for the Night for Kentucky Opera.

Addressing the audience at the
Albany Art Institute.

During rehearsals of Little Nemo in Slumberland.


Graduating the Curtis Institute in 1984.


Making revisions to the score of Amelia
at Seattle Opera.

Serving as Artistic Director of
the Seasons Festival.