Richard Hageman

Richard Hageman (9 July 1881, Leeuwarden – 6 March 1966, Beverly Hills) was a Dutch-born American conductor, pianist, composer, and actor. Hageman was born and raised in Leeuwarden, Friesland, Netherlands. He was the son of Maurits Hageman of Zutphen and Hester Westerhoven of Amsterdam. A child prodigy, he was a concert pianist by the age of six. He studied in Amsterdam and gave lessons as a piano teacher. As a young man he was an accompanist for... more

Richard Hageman (9 July 1881, Leeuwarden – 6 March 1966, Beverly Hills) was a Dutch-born American conductor, pianist, composer, and actor. Hageman was born and raised in Leeuwarden, Friesland, Netherlands. He was the son of Maurits Hageman of Zutphen and Hester Westerhoven of Amsterdam. A child prodigy, he was a concert pianist by the age of six. He studied in Amsterdam and gave lessons as a piano teacher. As a young man he was an accompanist for singers and with the Amsterdam Royal Opera Company, of which he became the conductor in 1899. He came to the United States in 1906 to accompany Yvette Guilbert on a tour through the States. He stayed and eventually became an American citizen. He was a conductor for the Metropolitan Opera between 1914 and 1932, headed the Curtis Institute from 1932 to 1936, and was music director of the Chicago Civic Opera and the Ravinia Park Opera for seven years. He was a guest director of orchestras like the Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles symphony... less