Born in Wisconsin, Hagen studied composition with Ned Rorem at the Curtis Institute and David Diamond at the Juilliard School, then worked privately with Leonard Bernstein and Lukas Foss. During the 80s-90s, he was a copyist and editor for numerous concert composers and Broadway shows, including Elliot Carter, Virgil Thomson, Gian Carlo Menotti, and Disney. A Manhattanite for 28 years, he and his wife, composer Gilda Lyons, moved Upstate in 2011 to raise their sons.

Daron Hagen is a prolific composer of acoustic and electro-acoustic music for the concert hall and stage. He is also a stage director, conductor, librettist, essayist, clinician, and collaborative pianist. His songs set the texts of numerous American writers and poets, including Walt Whitman, Sara Teasdale, Gertrude Stein, Carl Sandburg, Robinson Jeffers, Wallace Stevens, and James Merrill.

Hagen is also a passionate teacher with a commitment to social activism through art and resolute eschewing of orthodoxies. He taught for a decade at Bard College, and served on the faculties of the Curtis Institute, New York University, and the Princeton Atelier, among others. Hagen is currently a member of the Artist Faculty of the Chicago College of the Performing Arts and chairs the composition program at the Wintergreen Music Festival.