Helen Eugenia Hagan (January 10, 1891 – March 6, 1964) was an American pianist, music educator and composer of

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

descent.Metzer, David. 'Hagan, Helen Eugenia', in ''Grove Music Online'' (2001)

Life

Helen Eugenia Hagan was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the daughter of John A. and Mary Estella Neal Hagan. She studied piano with her mother and then in the public schools of

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

. Around the age of nine, she began playing organ for the Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church in New Haven.Foxwell, Elizabeth (ed.)
''In Their Own Words: American Women in World War 1''
(2015) She studied at

Yale School of Music The Yale School of Music (often abbreviated to YSM) is one of the 12 professional schools at Yale University. It offers three graduate degrees: Master of Music (MM), Master of Musical Arts (MMA), and Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), as well as a join ...

with pianist H Stanley Knight and composer

Horatio Parker Horatio William Parker (September 15, 1863 – December 18, 1919) was an American composer, organist and teacher. He was a central figure in musical life in New Haven, Connecticut in the late 19th century, and is best remembered as the undergradu ...

, graduating in 1912 with a bachelor's degree in music. In doing so, she became the first known African American woman to earn a Yale degree. She performed as soloist on her own Piano Concerto in C Minor in May 1912 with the

New Haven Symphony Orchestra The New Haven Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in New Haven, Connecticut. The New Haven Symphony Orchestra gave its first concert in 1895 and is the fourth oldest orchestra in the United States. Today, the orchestra is ...

conducted by Parker. She received the Samuel Simmons Stanford scholarship to study in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, with

Blanche Selva Marie Blanche Selva (Catalan ''Blanca Selva i Henry'', 29 January 18843 December 1942) was a French people, French pianist, music educator, writer and composer of Spanish people, Spanish origin. Biography Blanche Selva was born in Brive-la-Gaill ...

and

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the P ...

, and graduated from Schola Cantorum in 1914. Hagan returned to the United States as

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

began and began a career as a concert pianist, touring from 1915 to 1918. In 1918 she was music director (i.e. music department chair) at Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State College. In early 1919 she left for France to entertain black troops of the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought along ...

, along with spirituals singer Joshua Blanton and the Rev. Henry Hugh Proctor, under the auspices of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

. General

John Pershing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was a senior United States Army officer. He served most famously as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Wes ...

personally requested that Ms. Hagan entertain the troops. In 1920 Hagan married John Taylor Williams of Morristown, New Jersey but continued her concert career. They divorced ca. 1931. She had a music studio in Morristown for at least a decade and was the first African American woman admitted to the Morristown Chamber of Commerce. She taught at the Mendelssohn Conservatory of Music in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and pursued a Masters of Arts degree from

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...

. In the 1930s she served as dean of music at

Bishop College Bishop College was a historically black college, founded in Marshall, Texas, United States, in 1881 by the Baptist Home Mission Society. It was intended to serve students in east Texas, where the majority of the black population lived at the t ...

Marshall, Texas Marshall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Harrison County and a cultural and educational center of the Ark-La-Tex region. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population of Marshall was 23,392; The population of the Greater ...

. She also continued to work as a choir director and church organist. She died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

after an extended illness. On September 29, 2016, a crowdfunded monument for Hagan's previously unmarked grave was unveiled at New Haven'
Evergreen Cemetery
and the day was declared "Women Making Music Day" by New Haven mayor

Toni Harp Toni Nathaniel Harp (born August 6, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 50th Mayor of New Haven, Connecticut. Harp, a Democrat, was previously a state senator in Connecticut from 1993 to 2013. A resident of New Haven, Harp represente ...

. The New Haven Symphony Orchestra's season opening concert that evening was performed in Ms. Hagan's honor. The only known video footage of Helen Hagen is in the 1954 New York Board of Education documentary '' Let Us Break Bread Together'', where she is shown performing in a school context.

Works

The Piano Concerto is the only work by Helen Hagan to survive. In 2014

Lola Perrin Lola Perrin is a minimalist composer and pianist with jazz influences. She is American (with roots in the Ukraine and Hungary) and lives in London. She is the sister of jazz and world music composer and pianist Roland Perrin. Lola says she takes h ...

and the Ivory Duo Piano Ensemble made a transcription from the 1912 manuscript to create a performable version in a piano reduction. In 2022, pianist Samantha Ege recorded a two piano version on her album ''Black Renaissance Woman''. Composer and Yale School of Music alum Soomin Kim has re-orchestrated the work based on the existing sources. The new version was first performed by the Yale Philharmonia and Samantha Ege on October 21, 2022. Her other compositions, including songs, piano pieces, a violin sonata (pre-1912), and string quartets, have all been lost. The

is an active advocate for Ms. Hagan's legacy and encourages anyone who might be in possession of a score or manuscript of her music to please contact the Symphony.Elaine C. Carroll, CEO, New Haven Symphony
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagan, Helen Eugenia 1891 births 1964 deaths 20th-century classical composers African-American classical composers American classical composers African-American classical pianists American women classical pianists American classical pianists African-American women classical composers African-American music educators American women classical composers American music educators American women music educators People from Portsmouth, New Hampshire 20th-century American women pianists 20th-century American composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century women composers African-American women musicians 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American musicians Yale School of Music alumni Schola Cantorum de Paris alumni People from New Haven, Connecticut Teachers College, Columbia University alumni People from Morristown, New Jersey Musicians from New Haven, Connecticut