PAPAGENA PRESS
Katherine Hoover

Katherine Hoover

Papagena Press Founder

For more than 50 years, Ms. Hoover was a composer, educator, and freelance flutist in New York City. Born in West Virginia (December 2, 1937 – September 21, 2018), Katherine lived 80 years. She received National Flute Association’s 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award, a National Endowment Composer’s Fellowship and many other awards, including an American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award (1994) in Composition. Since co-founding in 1988, Papagena's catalog has included 90 individual titles of Katherine's work. Many of these have one or more interesting rearrangements.

Katherine Lacy Hoover


Photo of KHoover

Please listen to her famed Kokopeli.

Theodore Presser is the world-wide distributor for Papagena Press and most of Katherine Hoover's compositions. Papagena's catalog lists more than 90 of Katherine's works, including her 6 National Flute Association's Newly Published Music Competition winners.

Distributors of selected works include Boelke Boemart / Schott, Songs of Peer LTD., and WC Music Corp.



At Katherine's birth, Washington, D.C. was her parent's home. Interestingly, Katherine Lacy Hoover was born December 2, 1937, following a maternal family tradition in Elkins, West Virginia, U.S.A. Her mother, Katherine Fletcher Lacy, was a painter/artist and editor. Her father, Samuel Randolph Hoover, was a biochemist.

The family returned home to Washington D.C. soon after her birth. Katherine's father negotiated a transfer to Philadelphia to directly support the war effort with the beginning of WWII. Philadelphia was Katherine's home beginning with her formative years through high school.

According to Katherine, she was struck by the beauty of music when she first heard Mozart, played on a Victrola, at age three. It is unknown when her father rescued a neighbor's discarded piano. Her family thinks it logical; the arrival of this piano was why she could begin piano lessons at age five. Flute lessons soon followed in school at age eight. Katherine would only share with family; she discovered her talent of perfect-pitch as a child.

Elkins, W.V. 1930s


Photo of Elkins, W.V. 1930s Courtesy of traveling219.com, Photo by John Vachon, from the Library of Congress.

Katherine's parents, who were appreciative of the arts, could not envision music as a viable profession for anyone. Her family surmises it reflects the family's experiences from the Great Depression.

Katherine would often refer to her parents as "nonmusical" in part to express their lack of support. Later in life, when asked about the formal instruction she received during her scholastic years, Katherine responded she received "mediocre music instruction". At least, in part, this was an example of Katherine's frustration with her instructors not supporting her pursuit of musical excellence. Her tendency to pursue excellence is illustrated by achieving a National Merit Scholarship.

Katherine's parents, who were appreciative of the arts, could not envision music as a viable profession for anyone. Her family surmises it reflects the family's experiences from the Great Depression.

Eastman School of Music

Katharine entered the University of Rochester in 1955 with an academic scholarship. She did complete her 1st two years of academic studies successfully. In 1957 she entered the University's Eastman School of Music, where she studied flute with Joseph Mariano and began to study composition. Katharine comments "There were no women involved composition at all. [I got] rather discouraged, being the only woman in my classes, not being paid attention to and so forth." Katharine graduated From Eastman School of Music in 1959 with a Bachelor of Music in Music Theory and a Performers Certificate in Flute.

Manhattan, NY

Katherine focused on performing (freelance flutist) and teaching early through her 59 years living in Manhattan. While famous for her compositions and performances, some of her other accomplishments include educator, published writer, entrepreneur, and conductor. In the summer of 1960, Katherine attended the Yale Summer Session, where she studied flute, theory, and composition. The following summer, she continued her studies with flutist William Kincaid in Philadelphia. Katherine was uncertain, yet may have been Kincaid's last student.

Recognition

In 1969, she began teaching music theory, singing, and dictation at the Manhattan School of Music. This continued for 15 years until 1984. During this time, she continued her graduate studies at Manhattan, receiving her Master of Music in Music Theory in 1974.

After eight years of marriage, Katherine divorced her first husband. She stayed in New York City to raise her son and build her career. Katherine had her first publication of a composition, Three Carols for choir and flute, published by Carl Fischer Music Company.

Katherine was very involved with women's arts organizations and has worked to bring the works of women composers to the public's notice. In 1977, she began work with the Women's Inter-Art Center in New York. Here she organized Festivals I, II, and III of Women's Music, which presented music by fifty-five historical and contemporary women composers.

Manhattan, NYC 1979


Photo of Hoover cira 1975 Courtesy of Papagena Press. All rights reserved.

Katherine founded Papagena Press in 1988, primarily to publish her work. In 1989 Katherine was named Composer of the Year by the New York Music Teachers Association. This same year the New Jersey Chamber Music Society premiered her Quintet (Da Pacem) for piano and strings at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center.

Papagena's first publication, Kokopeli (for solo flute) was inspired by the Hopi tribe and the American Southwest. Kokopeli won the Newly Published Music competition for 1991. During an interview Katherine shared, Out of all of my achievements in music, I was overcome with the success of Kokopeli. Written in New Mexico in 1990, the piece holds international renown and exemplifies the culture of Native Americans and their music. Katherine was overjoyed when one of her peers deemed her composition a "whole new genre of music for the flute".

The early '90s were especially rewarding for Katherine, demonstrating her exceptional versatility. In '93 and '94, Canyon Echos and Lyric Trio won the NFA's annual Newly Published Music Competition. Having attended the Conductors Institute in South Carolina, She becomes active as a conductor leading performances of her work and others in Wisconsin, West Virginia, and New York, and Pennsylvania.

In January 1994, Katherine conducted the premiere of her Night Skies, a 25-minute work for a large orchestra, with the Harrisburg Symphony. Later that same year, Katherine was honored with the Academy Award in Music by the Academy of Arts and Letters.

In the fall of 1995, she traveled to Bratislava for the recording of her Night Skies and Eleni: A Greek Tragedy, then returning to watch her composition, Dances and Variations being featured in the 1996 Emmy-winning PBS documentary titled New Music. Director Deborah Novak traced the commissioning, rehearsal, and premiere of the work at the Kennedy Center. Later that year, Katherine was the Composer-in-Residence for the Fourth Festival of Women Composers at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

As a flutist, Katherine has given concerto performances at Lincoln Center and performed with leading ballet and opera companies in New York's major halls. She has played numerous recitals, both live and on radio and television.

Katherine was a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, the International Alliance for Women in Music, the National Flu Association, the Conductor's Guild, and Member Laureate - Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity.

Her retirement from performance in 2012 gave Kathrine great freedom to work on her poetry, once again demonstrating versatility in her profession. Katherine became a published author in 2015, with her poetry book This Way About being published as an Editor's Choice.

Lifetime Achievement

Katherine was the recipient of the National Flute Association's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. According to the NFA, ten of Katherine's pieces received Newly Published Music competition nominations.

Katherine Lacy Hoover passed away in 2018 and is survived by her husband, Richard Goodwin, son, Norman Daniel Schwab and three grandchildren.

Katherine's Reflections

She owed much of her success to her mentor, William Kincaid. Working under his guidance for two years, he taught her more about music than any other composer at a time in history when it was taboo for women to write music.

Papagena Press which survives with her family has released over 70 titles by Katherine, one title by John Davison and documents more than another 30 of Katherine's works.

In terms of support, she received a grant from the Alice M. Ditson Fund, numerous grants from Meet the Composer; Commissions by the New Jersey Chamber Music Society, the Women's Philharmonic, the Episcopal Diocese of New York, the Huntingdon Trio, and Duologue, among others; and is a recipient of a myriad of awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

Katherine's output includes many works for the flute; however, she also wrote for specific performers on other instruments. Two examples are Stitch-te Naku for Cello and Orchestra, for cellist Sharon Robinson and her Clarinet Concerto, and for virtuoso jazz clarinetist Eddie Daniels.

Katherine's compositions have been performed in Orchestras, including the Harrisburg, Reno, Richmond, and St. Joseph Symphonies, chamber groups such as the New Jersy Chamber Music Society, the Dorian and Sylvan Quintets, and Montclaire Quartets and the Verdehr, Huntingdon, and Eroica Trios, Pianists Mirian Conti, Joseph Kalichstein, Christopher Taylor, and Anne Marie McDermott, and flutists Julius Baker, Carol Wincenc, and Jeffrey Kahner, and Metropolitan Opera bass John Cheek have performed her music.

Publishers of her chamber repertoire include Arabesque, Leonarda, CRI, Grenadilla, and Opus One.

As a player, theorist, teacher, and conductor, Katherine studied hundreds of scores; these scores were her primary composition instruction. Katherine was once asked how she composed; Did she ever experiment with her music using an instrument? Her answer was she would compose a whole piece in her imagination.

Compositions

Compositions

Or, search by instrumentation; open or close to suit your interests.



Noteworthy

Noteworthy

Katherine's family happily shares her expressions of respect, gratitude, and friendship for the support she experienced in her life. Katherine cherished it all. Professionally, her life is full of performances, recordings, commissions, compositions, arrangments, and discussions of music. The following performances, recordings, and interviews offer the best glimpse her family can provide.


. . . Katherine as composer . . .go to

. . . Katherine as flutist . . .go to

. . . Interviews, Reviews, Tributes . . .go to
Contacts

Contacts


Katherine survives through her music and poems. Her family continues to correspond with her friends, peers, and acquaintances to understand her life and work better. Papagena Press and her family thank everyone for keeping her memory alive.

The challenge of accumulating and organizing her work and working materials (searching desk drawers, file cabinets, bookcases, credenzas, and closets) has been more significant than expected. We have successfully transferred most of her archives to The Eastman School of Music's Sibley Music Library Special Collections department.

Several outside sources have been valuable in rediscovering some of her early work. The United States Copyright Office and Library of Congress resources have provided many details. Additionally, The Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music best summarizes Katherine's katherinehoover.com(2012) in great detail.

Below is a list of contacts and resources for those interested in exploring her music.


Papagena Press

160 W 95th St #5B
NYC NY USA 10025

katherinehoover@papagenapress.com
info@papagenapress.com
webmaster@papagenapress.com


Eastman School of Music

Sibley Music Library
Special Collections
UNIV. of Rochester
27 Gibbs St.
Rochester NY USA 14604


Theodore Presser Company

105 Great Valley Pkwy
Malvern PA USA 19355

610.592.1222


ASCAP

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
250 West 57th Street
NYC NY USA 10107


WorldCat

OCLC Online Computer Library
6565 Kilgour Place
Dublin Ohio USA 43017


NYWC

New York Women Composers, Inc.


Pytheas

Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music
389 Cousins Street
Yarmouth Maine USA 04096