William Hagen

UCMF Artistic Director and Utah native William Hagen has performed as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. In the 2025/26 season, he returned as soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, made his debut with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, and performs concertos, recitals, and chamber music throughout the United States and Europe.

He has appeared with the Chicago Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, and many others, and has performed at venues including Wigmore Hall and the Louvre. His collaborators include Steven Isserlis, Gidon Kremer, Edgar Meyer, and Tabea Zimmermann.

Will began violin at age four with Natalie Reed and continued his early studies with Deborah Moench. He studied with Robert Lipsett at the Colburn School, Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho at The Juilliard School, and Christian Tetzlaff at the Kronberg Academy. His debut album, Danse Russe, with pianist Albert Cano Smit, was released in 2020.

Will performs on the 1732 “Arkwright Lady Rebecca Sylvan” Antonio Stradivari and a François Xavier Tourte bow, both on generous loan from the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation.

Will was born at Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City, grew up vacationing at the family cabin at Fishlake, and played baseball for East High School. Utah is central to his identity, and it is a sincere joy for him to share world-class music with Utah audiences while also introducing his beloved home state to friends and colleagues who perform on stages around the world. His favorite local restaurant is Star of India.