It's been 10 years since Bay Area composer David Hogan, and 229 others were killed when Paris-bound TWA Flight 800 exploded off the coast of Long Island. David's daughter, Hilary Hogan, will celebrate her father's life, and her father's work at a special concert at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral on Nov. 19.
Mr. Hogan divided his time between San Francisco and Paris, where, Hilary says, her father's musical life was based. he worked with choruses in Europe. In 1995, he accepted the post as director of the Gay Men's Choir of Paris. he taught at Fountainbleu, where he had studied with the famous Nadia Boulanger. Mr. Hogan was also the co-founder of the Walden School in New Hampshire, where talented kids spent their summers. He was a gifted tenor, and his compositions were widely performed, including his Magnificat, for the consecration of the
National Cathedral in Washington D.C. in 1989.
"My father took me to Europe, and showed me all the great cathedrals," Hilary said on the phone from Washington. "Perhaps for that reason, I began to study design, and architecture. But, by mid-college, I switched my major to music."
It will be Hilary's San Francisco debut as a singer. The occasion also celebrates Hilary's achievement of getting her Master's Degree in music from the prestigious Peabody Institute. The concert will include family, friends, and former students of her father, as well as members
of the Consortium of the Arts, the chorale that her father founded, and members of the Children's Chorus of the Meher Schools, in Lafayette.
The concert will be conducted by Hilary's mother, terry Hogan Johnson, the musical director of the Consortium. This is also a benefit to raise money for the chorus.
The concert marks a tragic event, but it also represents how David Hogan touched so many people's lives through teaching, and through his prolific creation of music.
"I feel so thankful," said Hilary, "for all the people who taught me about my father over the years, and showed me how interesting his world was. I am happily spoiled."
Hilary's parents divorced when she was nine years old. But, she said, they were the best of friends: "He went off to do his music, and she directed choruses. I think they separated because of the geographical dislocation."
Not only will Hilary and friends perform the music of her father, she's including art songs by Leonard Bernstein (Glitter and Be Gay from Candide), Hugo Wolf, Richard Strauss, and Gabriel Fauré. Hilary is versatile. She also singing a little Marvin Hamlisch, and a song that Michael Friedman wrote for the late, great canary, Nancy LaMott. There will also be a few of her dad's Debussy favorites. Yes, it will be an occasion at Grace Cathedral for Thanksgiving.
"We put the concert together in thankfulness," Hilary explained. "It's for all the things that happened since my father's passing. It was traumatic, but all these people came together as a support system for me. It's overwhelming for me to think that someone can have such
influence. It's such a gift they I've been given. I hope to give back a little in a loving way."
Hilary Hogan's Celebration of Friends, Family, and Love, called Love's Perfect Design, will take place at Grace Cathedral, 1100 California Street at Taylor, atop Nob Hill, on Sunday, Nov. 19, at 3 p.m. For details, go to http://www.thanksgivingconcert.org/
Bruce Bellingham is the Arts & Entertainment Editor of Northside and the author of Bellingham by the Bay, a collection of stories about San Francisco and some of her memorable characters.
No comments:
Post a Comment