Hilel Kagan, a Chicago-area violinist, conductor and teacher, co-founded the Concertante di Chicago chamber orchestra and also played for many years in the orchestras of the Chicago Opera Theater and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
“He wanted the best for the musicians he worked with and he always expected the best from himself,” said singer Maria Bahas Lagios, who first worked with Kagan while she sang with the Chicago Opera Theater and later traveled with Kagan and his wife on a performing tour in North Korea.
Kagan, 85, died of complications from Parkinson’s disease June 29 at his son’s home in Vernon Hills, said his son, Eugene. Kagan had lived in Evanston for more than 40 years.
Born in Riga, Latvia, Kagan moved as a toddler with his mother to Russia, where they lived throughout World War II. After the war, they returned to Latvia.
“My parents were opera singers. I’ve had a love of opera from day one,” he told the Tribune in 1997.
Kagan received an undergraduate degree from the Latvian State Conservatory and took a job with the Riga Opera Orchestra. He got a master’s degree in stage opera direction from the Leningrad Conservatory in Russia. He returned to Latvia, where he directed productions.
Kagan immigrated to the U.S. in 1974. Arriving in Chicago just two months later, he joined the Chicago Opera Theater as a violinist, and from there he joined the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s orchestra, becoming its principal second violinist and leading that section for 32 years.
“He was always a very serious musician who was determined to get very good quality,” said Eugene Pazin, who played alongside Kagan in the Lyric’s orchestra.
In 1986, Kagan co-founded Concertante di Chicago, chamber orchestra that aimed at involving the audience more through post-concert discussions and other means. Kagan would wave his baton in front of the orchestra when a given score required a conductor, but more often, he guided Concertante from his concertmaster’s chair, which was a throwback to ensembles of the classical era that performed without a conductor.
“We are a group of soloists, not an orchestra,” Kagan told the Tribune in 1986. “The absence of a conductor makes it orchestral chamber music. There are no first chairs or anything else; everybody’s equal. In all senses we musicians will be pulling together in very close harmony. We will assume various roles from concert to concert.”
Concertante was a success, and over the next two decades, Kagan served as its artistic director, designing some orchestral programs as portraits of specific cultures. Concertgoers proved receptive to their greater involvement as well.
“(Audiences) were quick to accept the idea that they are an equal partner in the performance,” Kagan told the Tribune in 1987, reflecting on Concertante’s first season. “It has made our relationship with our subscribers very special, helping to lift the traditional barriers that separate musicians and listeners. Having that interchange of ideas is one of the things that makes Concertante exciting for all of us.”
Concertante ceased operations in 2005 after 20 seasons due to the difficulty in attracting new audiences.
Outside of performing and conducting, Kagan taught music at DePaul University. Jennifer Greenwell, who teaches orchestra at Hawthorn Middle School in Vernon Hills, was a private violin student with Kagan at DePaul.
“He had the biggest heart ever,” Greenwell said. “He was extremely kind and caring, and he took good care of us. And even when we were done with school there, some of us would be involved with Concertante, and he treated us like we were his children working with him, so he was always looking out for us.”
Another former violin student of Kagan’s, Tom Stone, now is the artistic director for a chamber orchestra in Eureka, California.
“As a teacher, Hilel imparted a deep love of music in all of his students — love of music and always playing with emotion was what he constantly demanded of each of his students,” Stone said. “Hilel had a special spark and challenged those who he knew. Passion for music and life burned hot in him. He was always engaged, always creative and always had that fire burning in his eyes. All of us who worked with Hilel, regardless of the capacity, felt heard and seen by him.”
Kagan’s sister, Marina Fabrikant, teaches music at Union College in Nebraska. She remembered her brother’s understanding of orchestras’ senses of style and ability to bring out drama, development and details in the music.
“Hilel … had an amazing feel of phrase, of style, and understanding of the form, supported by deep knowledge of the dramaturgy and intuitive musicality,” Fabrikant said. “His sense of the genre and its intricacies allowed him to freely express musical ideas from many different eras and countries. It was a pleasure to play with him in an ensemble. His sense of the partner, of the group and dynamics was very acute (and) the directions which he would give were short, precise and to the point.”
Kagan married violinist Helia Schramm in 1976. The two enjoyed collaborating on a variety of performances and instructional efforts.
Kagan retired from DePaul around 2007, and not long after that, he stepped down at the Lyric. With his wife, he helped found the Canzonetta Youth String Chamber Orchestra in the north suburbs.
A first marriage ended in divorce. In addition to his wife, son and sister, Kagan is survived by two stepdaughters, Stefanie and Lisa Schramm; two granddaughters; and three step-grandsons.
Services were held.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.