Shorter College’s New Music Series to feature the music of award-winning composer

September 10 - Shorter College’s New Music Series Concert will highlight the musical creations of award-winning composer Joceyln Hagen. The concert, held inside Brookes Chapel, will take place Monday, Sept. 14, at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free, and the event is open to the public.

Formed in 2007, the New Music Series was designed to expose Shorter students to contemporary art music. The concert will open with the debut of three songs specifically composed by Hagen for Shorter’s New Music Series.

This year’s concert will feature more than one dozen compositions, all based on works from such poets as Walt Whitman, e.e. cummings, Emily Dickinson and Pablo Neruda. Shorter music faculty and students will perform each piece of art music during the concert. Performers include faculty members Chuck Chandler, April Hill, Matthew Hoch, Kirsten Kunkle, Linda Lister, and Sherri Weiler. Ben Harris, vocal coach and instructor of accompanying at Shorter, will provide piano accompaniment on all pieces performed during the concert. Student performers include sophomores Mary Diesch, Ryan O’Leary and junior Emily Tweedy.

As Shorter College’s first-ever composer-in-residence, Hagen will also speak during an hour-long presentation prior to the New Music Concert. The presentation will focus on Hagen’s work and will be held in the Evans Chorale Room from 4 p.m. until 5 p.m.

Hoch, assistant professor of music and director of the New Music Series, is excited about Hagen’s involvement at Shorter and the upcoming concert. “We are deeply honored to welcome Jocelyn Hagen as Shorter College’s first-ever composer-in-residence. She is an accomplished young composer who writes music of great sophistication and accessibility,” said Hoch. “I am confident that the community will thoroughly enjoy her concert and learn much during her residency.”

Hagen holds degrees in theory, composition, and vocal music education from St. Olaf College, as well as a master’s degree in composition from the University of Minnesota.  Her training also includes summer study at the European American Musical Alliance in Paris, France, where she studied with Philip Lasser of the Juilliard School of Music.  

Having been an active teacher for much of her life, Hagen has maintained a private piano and composition studio for more than 10 years. In 2003-2004, she was chosen for a Composer-in-the-Schools residency through the American Composers Forum and taught weekly composition to a group of high school students. Additionally, she held an adjunct faculty position at the College of St. Catherine’s in St. Paul, Minn., 2007, teaching orchestration and has served as composer-in-residence at Shorter College since 2008.

Founded in 1873, Shorter College is a Christian college committed to excellence in education. Since 2003, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Shorter among the South’s best baccalaureate colleges. The college offers bachelor’s degrees in 48 major areas, master’s level and undergraduate degree programs for working adults, online courses, and a vibrant intercollegiate athletic program. Shorter will transition to university status June 1, 2010. For more information, visit www.shorter.edu.

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