Susan Hagen

Susan recently became the principal double bassist of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, the first female ever to do so, and has been a featured soloist with them! Additionally Susan performs with the Bach, Beethoven & Brahms Society (formerly Boston Classical Orchestra) as well as the Boston Ballet Orchestra, Boston Lyric Opera Orchestra, and many other groups throughout the Boston area. Susan is on faculty at Berklee College of Music and is a frequent guest lecturer at Harvard University. She has been a clinician at the Rochester Bass Retreat, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, the International Online Bass Summit, the Oberlin Conservatory, and Appalachian State, among others. Susan often performs chamber music with Boston-based chamber music groups such as Radius Ensemble, Chameleon Arts Ensemble, Winsor Music, The Hagen Duo, Trio Nordica, Mistral Music, and other chamber music groups. Susan performed at the International Society of Bassists Convention in 2015 with world-renowned electric bassist Steve Bailey and continues to collaborate with him, including being featured on his latest album entitled “Carolina.” She loves to perform & premiere new music; since March 2020, Susan has recorded more than 50 pieces (all written after 2010) and has given the World/US/Regional premiere of over 20 pieces in online recitals. In August 2018, Susan gave the US premiere of David Heyes' "Seven Last Words from the Cross" in Rochester, NY, and has also given premieres of double bass music composed by David Heyes, Mary Rae, Luis Guillermo Pérez, Simón Garcia, Peter Byron Smith, John Alexander, Martin Wind, P. Kellach Waddle, and Lloyd Goldstein, among others. She was invited to give a solo recital at the International Society of Bassists 2021 virtual Convention. In recent seasons Susan has been a soloist with the Harvard Summer School Orchestra, Boston Conservatory String Ensemble, the Warren (Ohio) Philharmonic, the Waltham (MA) Philharmonic, and the Sharon Community Chamber Orchestra.