Betty-Jean Hagen (October 17, 1930 – December 29, 2016) was a Canadian-born violinist and musical educator living in the United States.

Early life

Hagen was born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

and studied violin there with Alexander Nicol. Hagen won awards at the Alberta Music Festival in 1937 and 1938. She studied at the Chicago Conservatory from 1938–39, mainly with Ludwig Becker; she had received a scholarship to study both violin and piano but later decided to focus on violin.

Career

During the early 1940s, Hagen played with the Edmonton Philharmonic Orchestra; in 1946, she moved to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, where she played with the Calgary Symphony Orchestra and studied with

Clayton Hare Clayton Hare (July 13, 1909 – December 11, 2001) was a Canadian music teacher, conductor, and violinist. He was the third principal conductor of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra and taught at a number of universities including Mount Allison Un ...

. She studied at the

Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher (musician), Edward ...

from 1949 to 1951 with Géza de Kresz. In 1950, Hagen was one of the four winners of the Naumberg Competition. In 1951, she won the Eaton Graduating Scholarship, going on to study at

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

with

Ivan Galamian Ivan Alexander Galamian ( hy, Իվան Ղալամեան; April 14, 1981) was an Armenian-American violin teacher of the twentieth century who was the violin teacher of many seminal violin players including Itzhak Perlman. Biography Galamian w ...

. She also won the Pathé-Marconi Prize, which allowed her to give recitals in France, Holland, Britain and Switzerland. From 1950 to 1951, she was a member of the Columbia Canadian Trio which toured Ontario, Quebec, and the United States. In 1952, she received the Harriet Cohen Commonwealth Medal after her debut in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In 1953, she was named "Woman of the Year" in music by the Canadian press and received the Carl Flesch Medal from the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

. In 1955, she received the Leventritt Foundation Award. Hagen went on to perform with the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra The ''Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra'' (''PSO'') is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District, Pittsburgh, Cultural District. History The Pittsburgh Sy ...

, the Concergebouw Orchestra, the

London Philharmonic The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Vancouver International Festival Orchestra. Hagen performed with the CBC Symphony Orchestra for the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

at the

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...

in 1957. In 1962, she placed 7th in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. She also performed at

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

. She also gave a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II, and had her New York debut as a soloist at Carnegie Hall. Around 1957, Hagen married Vincent Greicius, a violinist with the

Metropolitan Opera Company The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is opera ...

. He died in 1993. The couple settled in

Hastings-on-Hudson, New York Hastings-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County located in the southwestern part of the town of Greenburgh in the state of New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of midtown Manha ...

. They had two daughters and a son. One of her daughters, Elaine Greicius Tenca, also a violinist, died in 2008 at the age of 49. Her other daughter, Valerie Greicius Oster (also Valerie Gracious) is a singer and keyboardist in the progressive rock band Phideaux. During the 1970s, Hagen gave private lessons and coached chamber ensembles, primarily for students in their teens. She has served as concertmaster for the

Westchester Symphony Orchestra Westchester most commonly refers to Westchester County, New York, immediately north of New York City. __NOTOC__ It may also refer to: Geography Canada *Westchester Station, Nova Scotia, Canada United States *Town of Westchester, the original seat ...

, the

Woodstock Chamber Orchestra Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

and the

Orange County Chamber Orchestra Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower * Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum ...

. During the early 1980s, she performed in a number of Canadian venues with orchestras and with a piano quartet. In 1985, she began teaching violin at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

; she also taught at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

from 1985 to 1989. As of 2015, she was still concertmaster for the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra. She died in 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagen, Betty-Jean 1930 births 2016 deaths Canadian classical violinists American classical violinists American women violinists Canadian music educators Canadian women educators American music educators American women music educators Musicians from Edmonton The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni Women classical violinists 20th-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers 20th-century Canadian women musicians Canadian women violinists and fiddlers 21st-century American women