American composer and conductor; American soprano.

Henry Kimball Hadley was born near Boston, Massachusetts in 1871, and studied music there with his music teacher father and later with George Whitefield Chadwick. He found success as a conductor and then as a composer, both abroad and at home. He was the first conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, 1911-1915, associate conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra, 1920-1927, founder and conductor of the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra, 1929-1932, and founder of the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood, Massachusetts in 1934.

Hadley married American soprano Inez Barbour in 1918, and together they founded the National Association of Composers, USA, to encourage friendly cooperation between composers and conductors. Barbour continued to support this organization after Hadley’s death in 1938, until her own in 1971.

Hadley was an effective and tireless advocate of American music. A prolific composer, he worked in many musical forms, including symphonies, operas, ballet music, chamber music, songs, and even a film score. During his lifetime Hadley’s romantic and expressive style was immensely popular, but it is as a conductor rather than as a composer that he is best remembered.