Richard Hageman(1882-1966)
- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Composer, songwriter, conductor and pianist, educated at the Brussels
Conservatory (Mus. D.) and the Royal Conservatory of Amsterdam, on
scholarships. He was a concert pianist at six and accompanist for the
Royal Opera Company in Amsterdam, assuming the conductorship in 1899.
Coming to the USA with Yvette Guilbert, he became a US citizen in 1906
and assistant conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in 1908, and
conductor between 1914 and 1932, conducting the Sunday Night concerts
for eight years. He went on to head the opera department at Curtis
Institute for four years, then the music directorship at the Chicago
Civic Opera and the Ravinia Park Opera for seven years. He conducted
the Philadelphia Orchestra summer concerts for four years, and
guest-conducted symphony orchestras across the USA. Coming to Hollywood
in 1938, he conducted the Hollywood Bowl for six seasons. He joined
ASCAP in 1950.
