Sam Hagan: the voice of the ‘Messiah’

Sam Hagan has built most of his East Lake house with his own hands, 20,000 bricks, one at a time.

The retired biology teacher has also built a second career as a classical vocalist, and has fans who wait each year to hear him sing the first words of the “Messiah.”

For 40 winters his thrilling tenor has ushered in the holiday season, with the words “ev’ry valley shall be exalted.” Hagan’s own life reflects those lines from Isaiah. He has been lifted from humble beginnings to become a fixture in Atlanta’s music community.