When I spoke with Jocelyn Hagen earlier this month, she was putting the final touches on an exciting new project.
Tell us about your newest project.
It’s a Christmas oratorio called Rose Ever Blooming, which I’m writing with my husband, Tim Takach, for Voces8. Years ago, Tim found this amazing book of poetry by Patricia Monaghan that’s all about Mary. It really humanizes her in a very beautiful way, and we had this idea for a large work based on this poetry. We had been commissioned by Voces8 in the past and had a good working relationship with them, so we approached them, pitched the idea, and they said, “Yes! And if we do it, let’s record it right away!” So, it just sort of snowballed into this huge project.
Congratulations! And when will it be available?
We’re leaving for London next week for one day of rehearsals and two days of recording. The recording will be released during Christmas time, it’ll have an online streaming premiere, and they’re going to perform the premiere in London in December. We’re really excited.
In addition to choral music, you’re also writing stage works. Let’s talk about your 2023 premiere with Minnesota Opera.
Sure. It was The Song Poet, a collaboration with writer Kao Kalia Yang, a refugee from Laos who came to Minnesota as a child. The opera is based on her novel and it’s a much more traditional chamber opera than my first, Test Pilot. The cool thing that Minnesota Opera did was that they worked very hard to ensure that the cast was primarily AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) singers and dancers. There’s one white male character, but everyone else is not, so they worked really hard to make that happen. The opera meant so much to the Hmong community here in Minnesota. It was really an honor to be involved with something like that, especially since Kalia chose me as the composer.
Do you have other projects planned with Yang?
I’ve commissioned her to write more poetry for me, and she’s commissioned me to write music that accompanies her new children’s books, which is super cool! One of the things she always talked about is that, when she was a young girl, she wanted to see children’s books with kids that looked like her, or with stories that were about where she was from. And of course, they really didn’t exist in the ‘80s and ‘90s, so she’s writing those books. That’s a fun project for me, to be able to add some music to them. She takes the recordings with her when she does her readings.
You’ve achieved great success through your choral music, operas, and art songs. How did it all start?
I earned a BM in Theory/Composition and a BM in Vocal Music Education at St. Olaf College. When I first started composing, one of my best friends at college, Jen, was a soprano, so I was writing art songs for her. Hope was the first cycle I wrote and it was for her, and as I continued to compose, I heard her voice in my head. We had another friend, Abbie, who was also a singer, and we all performed together. And I met Tim at St. Olaf.
And Graphite Publishing?
Tim and I started the company in 2006. One of the reasons we started Graphite Publishing was that self-publishing/independent publishing was relatively new, but a lot of people were talking about it here in Minnesota for two reasons. The first is that Stephen Paulus was here. He did very well financially as an independent publisher because he retained his copyrights. And the other reason is that we had this incredible group of really talented young composers here. We were all watching Stephen and thinking about if we would go that route or try to get published by a big publisher. And the truth was that I had troubles getting published because I was young, nobody knew my name, and I was writing music that was difficult, so people weren’t all that interested, which I understand. So, we banded together to form this company.
And you’ll soon celebrate 20 years. Why do you think Graphite Publishing has been so successful?
Our mission has always been to promote and provide quality music that is notable, elevated, and accessible. But Tim and I couldn’t have done this without other composers like Abbie Betinis and Joshua Shank who, when we started, had already created names for themselves. People knew their names so Graphite had some clout right away. By putting us all together in one place, that gave us each legitimacy. And it was all a grand experiment! We had no idea if it would work. We wanted a way to publish that was in between signing away our work and getting 10% for the rest of our life, and doing all the hard work ourselves. We thought there should be a middle ground, so we aimed to do that.
What was it like when you started the company?
We functioned really like a non-profit for the first 10 to 15 years; we didn’t make much money because we gave so much away in the royalty. Now that the company is big enough and we have enough work, and the composers have reached a certain level of notoriety, it’s taking off and we’re able to make some money with the company in a way that we hadn’t in the first decade. I’m so glad we decided to form this company because it’s a part of who we are. I always enjoyed representing other composers, and sending out music by people I adore. That is a way to really become an advocate.
Last question. What it is that you want to say with your music?
That’s a great question. I love music. I love experiencing music when I feel like it opens up the way I view the world, and makes me think deeper about something inside myself. I want to help create that for other people.
Readers can explore the full Graphite Publishing catalogue at graphitepublishing.com.
Listen to Jocelyn’s podcast, Compose Like A Girl, at composelikeagirl.podbean.com.
