Moses Hogan

Biography

Moses George Hogan (March 13, 1957 – February 11, 2003) was an American composer and arranger of choral music. He was best known for his settings of spirituals. Hogan was a pianist, conductor, and arranger of international renown. His works are celebrated and performed by high school, college, church, community, and professional choirs today. Over his lifetime, he published 88 arrangements for voice, eight of which were solo pieces.

Born in New Orleans, Hogan lived with five siblings and his parents, who gave their children a passion for music. He was an accomplished pianist by the age of nine. The family attended the A.L. Davis New Zion Baptist Church. Hogan's father, of the same name, was a bass singer in the church choir while Hogan's uncle, Edwin B. Hogan, was the Minister of Music and organist. His mother, Gloria Hogan, was a nurse.

Hogan was musically educated from a young age, first enrolling in Xavier University Junior School of Music. In his sophomore year of high school, he was accepted to New Orleans Center for Creative Arts High School and was in its first graduating class of 1975.

Hogan was awarded a full scholarship to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied piano and graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Music degree. Immediately after graduation, he began graduate studies at the Juilliard School of Music, which he did not complete, and later went to study classical music in Vienna. During his piano performance years, Hogan won several competitions including first place at the 28th Annual Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition in New York. He returned to Louisiana State University, where he was offered the opportunity to work for his doctorate but decided not to pursue it.

In 1980, he formed the New World Ensemble and began arranging choral music. In 1993, he founded the Moses Hogan Chorale and the following year published his first arrangement, "Elijah Rock." The choir was invited to sing at the 1996 World Choral Symposium in Sydney, Australia.

In 1997, he founded the Moses Hogan Singers; their first album was released in 2002.

A year later Hogan died at the age of 45 of a brain tumor. His surviving relatives include his mother, brother, and four sisters. He was interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery and Mausoleum, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana.

Source: Wikipedia