Jennifer Higdon

Biography

Jennifer Higdon, a Brooklyn-born American composer, won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in music for her Violin Concerto. The prize committee called it “a deeply engaging piece that combines flowing lyricism with dazzling virtuosity.” She taught herself the flute at the age of 15, and began formal musical training at 18, composition at 21. Today, she is a major figure in contemporary classical music and makes her living by commissions. She creates in a wide range of genres including orchestral, chamber, choral, vocal and wind. Higdon says she is no traditionalist. She loves the Beatles and Dixie Chicks as well as modern classical contemporaries. She feels her music does not require a musical understanding because it is a straight-forward, very American, sound. Capturing the pop culture is her aim. The Santa Fe Opera and Opera Philadelphia commissioned Higdon to compose and opera based upon the best-selling novel, “Cold Mountain.” “Blue Cathedral” (1999) is one of her most performed works.