Jocelyn Hagen (born 1980)
Jocelyn Hagen was born in Minneapolis and raised in North Dakota. She began piano studies with her mother, was soon able to accompany choir practices, and began composing. She earned a Bachelor of Music from St. Olaf College, and an M.A. in composition from the University of Minnesota.
Jocelyn Hagen’s music includes much for choruses, but also for solo instruments (piano and cello), chamber ensembles, and sometimes orchestra. Her largest work is amass (2007 – 2011) for chorus, soloists, cellos, guitar, and percussion, which incorporates spiritual texts from many of the world’s religions.
Her 2011 composition Moon Goddess is for women’s voices, four-hand piano, buffalo drum, finger cymbals, and suspended cymbal with a text translated from Enheduanna, a 23rd century BC Sumerian priestess of the moon. This is a stirring music video of Moon Goddess created by students of the Centennial High School Bella Voce Choir of Las Cruces, New Mexico in lieu of live performances during COVID isolation:
Her 2019 multimedia symphony The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci is for choir and orchestra with an immersive video component. Here is an excerpt called “The Greatest Good” performed by a chorus performing virtually: