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Jennifer Higdon (b. Brooklyn, NY, December 31, 1962) maintains a full schedule of commissions and her music is known for its technical skill and audience appeal. Hailed by The Washington Post as "a savvy, sensitive composer with a keen ear, an innate sense of form and a generous dash of pure esprit," she is one of America's most frequently performed composers. |
Higdon's list of commissioners is extensive and includes The Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Oregon Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Curtis Institute of Music Symphony Orchestra, pianist Gary Graffman, Tokyo String Quartet, Ying Quartet, eighth blackbird, the Gilmore Piano Festival, the American Guild of Organists, and the Philadelphia Singers.Higdon has received awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy of Arts & Letters (two awards), the Pew Fellowship in the Arts, Meet-the-Composer, the National Endowment for the Arts, and ASCAP. In addition, she has received grants from the Mary Flagler Charitable Trust and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She has served as Composer-in-Residence for many music festivals, including the Vail Festival, Music From Angel Fire Festival, and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. In 2004, Higdon was the first woman composer to be named a featured composer at the Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival. Higdon has received three grants from the Meet-the-Composer Foundation, allowing her to serve as Composer-in-Residence with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (2005-06 season), the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra (2006-07 season) and the Philadelphia Orchestra (2007-08 season).
Higdon enjoys more than two hundred performances a year of her works. Her orchestral work blue cathedral is one of the most performed contemporary orchestral works in the United States, having been programmed by more than 140 orchestras since its premiere in 2000.
Higdon's other works have also been performed extensively in the United States and abroad, including performances at the White House, Weill Hall, Merkin Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, and by orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, BBC Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Houston Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony and performers such as Hilary Hahn, Jeffrey Khaner, Marc-Andre Hamelin, and the Miami String Quartet.
Her works have been recorded on over two dozen CDs. In spring of 2003, Telarc released blue cathedral by the Atlanta Symphony (Robert Spano, conducting) on a disc that made the Classical Billboard charts. In 2004, the Atlanta Symphony released the Grammy-winning Higdon: Concerto for Orchestra/City Scape. In fall of 2006, NAXOS released a CD of Higdon's chamber works Piano Trio, Voices, and Impressions, recorded by the Cypress String Quartet. Also in fall of 2006, Cedille released Strange Imaginary Animals, recorded by eighth blackbird, which includes Higdon's Zaka; and Crystal Records released International Connections, recorded by the Verdehr Trio, which includes Higdon's DASH.
Jennifer Higdon holds a Ph.D. and a M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in composition, a B.M. in flute performance from Bowling Green State University, and an Artist Diploma from The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Higdon's teachers have included George Crumb and Ned Rorem (composition), Judith Bentley (flute), and Robert Spano (conducting).
In 2007-08, Higdon will serve as the Composer-in-Residence at the Mannes College The New School for Music. In 2006-07, Higdon served as the Karel Husa Visiting Professor at Ithaca College. She is currently on the composition faculty of The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
For a selected list of Jennifer Higdon's awards, commissions, and recognitions, click HERE.
Short Biography Jennifer Higdon (b. Brooklyn, NY, December 31, 1962) maintains a full schedule of commissions and her music is known for its technical skill and audience appeal. Hailed by The Washington Post as "a savvy, sensitive composer with a keen ear, an innate sense of form and a generous dash of pure esprit," she is one of America's most frequently performed composers.
Her works have been recorded on over two dozen CDs. In 2004, the Atlanta Symphony released the Grammy-winning Higdon: Concerto for Orchestra/City Scape. In fall of 2006, NAXOS released a recording of Higdon's chamber works (performed by the Cypress String Quartet). At the same time, Cedille released a recording of Zaka, performed by eighth blackbird, and Crystal Records released a recording of DASH, performed by the Verdehr Trio.
Higdon enjoys more than 200 performances a year of her works. Her work blue cathedral is one of the most-performed orchestral works by a living composer (more than 140 orchestras have performed the work since its 2000 premiere).
She teaches composition at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.