Jocelyn Hagen composes music that
has been described as “simply magical” (Fanfare Magazine) and “dramatic
and deeply moving” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis/St. Paul). She is a
pioneer in the field of composition, pushing the expectations of
musicians and audiences with large-scale multimedia works,
electro-acoustic music, dance, opera, and publishing. Her first forays
into composition were via songwriting, still very evident in her work.
The majority of her compositions are for the voice: solo, chamber and
choral. Her melodic music is rhythmically driven and texturally complex,
rich in color and deeply heartfelt.
In 2019, choirs and orchestras across the country are premiering her multimedia symphony The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
that includes video projections created by a team of visual artists,
highlighting da Vinci’s spectacular drawings, inventions, and texts.
Hagen describes her process of composing for choir, orchestra and film
simultaneously in a Tedx Talk given at the Walker Art Center in
Minneapolis, now available on YouTube. Her dance opera collaboration
with choreographer Penelope Freeh, Test Pilot, received the
2017 American Prize in the musical theater/opera division as well as a
Sage Award for “Outstanding Design.” The panel declared the work “a tour
de force of originality.”
In 2013 Hagen released an EP entitled MASHUP, in which she performs
Debussy’s “Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum” while singing Ed Sheeran’s “The A
Team.” She is also one half of the band Nation, an a cappella duo with
composer/performer Timothy C. Takach, and together they perform and
serve as clinicians for choirs from all over the world.
Hagen’s commissions include Conspirare, the Minnesota Opera, the
Minnesota Orchestra, the American Choral Directors Associations of
Minnesota, Georgia, Connecticut and Texas, the North Dakota Music
Teachers Association, Cantus, the Boston Brass, the Metropolitan
Symphony Orchestra and the St. Olaf Band, among many others. Her work is
independently published through JH Music, as well as through Graphite
Publishing, G. Schirmer, Fred Bock Music Publishing, Santa Barbara Music
Publishing, and Boosey and Hawkes.