I believe wholeheartedly in melody, she declared in a 2011 interview at Drexel University. Pulitzer Prize and three-time Grammy-winner Jennifer Higdon (b. Brooklyn, NY, December 31, 1962) taught herself to play flute at the age of 15 and began formal musical studies at 18, with an even later start in composition at the age of 21. Her music has been hailed by Fanfare Magazine as having "the distinction of being at once complex, sophisticated but readily accessible emotionally", with the Times of London citing it as "traditionally rooted, yet imbued with integrity and freshness." Higdon was recently inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. I basically started from the very, very beginning. Abstract. The work is unquestionably complex but, unlike Higdon's Concerto for orchestra, the texture is not dense. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Pulitzer Prize and three-time Grammy-winner Jennifer Higdon (b. Brooklyn, NY, December 31, 1962) taught herself to play flute at the age of 15 and began formal musical studies at 18, with an even later start in composition at the age of 21. Violin Concerto: I - Jennifer Higdon 2. Jennifer Higdon (born December 31, 1962) is an American composer of classical music and composition teacher. Theres lots of lyrical high-flying writing for the soloist but, as in blue cathedral, its more rhapsodic than melodic. As part of this ethnographic approach, the very evolution of the work (including actual alterations before and after the premiere) is presented offering a distinct look at the processes of composition and performance in classical music. She has served as Composer-in-Residence with several orchestras, including the Cincinnati Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Fort Worth Symphony. [7] It was not until high school that she joined concert band, where she began playing percussion. Her works have been recorded on more than four dozen CDs. 'Accessible' is often a dirty word in the world of art, but Jennifer embraces the concept and explains that a major priority for her is to give listeners a sense of grounding and a feel for where they are in her compositions.". The concerto is in the usual three movements but with unusual designations. Hablas espaol? Receive a weekly collection of news, features and reviews, Andrew Farach-Colton This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. Primary source material garnered from interviews with all the musicians most crucial to the work's inception, as well as reflections by the author who attended the premiere rehearsals and the premiere itself are presented. She has been awarded honorary doctorates from the Hartt School and Bowling Green State University. 2023 Los Angeles Philharmonic Association. 1726 - YouTube Hilary Hahn, Violin. She has received many awards, including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Violin Concerto[2][3] and three Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her Percussion Concerto in 2010, Viola Concerto in 2018, and Harp Concerto in 2020. Check out this recent article in the New York Times. 157 ("Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn") for a funeral service in Leipzig; 1813 - Rossini: opera "Tancredi," in Venice at the Teatro La Fenice; 1851 - R. Schumann: Symphony No. Because of her lack of formal training at an early age, Higdon struggled to catch up early in her college career. Most recently, Higdon received the Nemmers Prize from Northwestern University which . An acclaimed flutist and composer, Valerie Coleman's appointment to the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is adjacent to many recent career highlights including the world premiere performance of The Light We Can See flute concerto by composer Jennifer Higdon alongside the Chicago Philharmonic with conductor and MSM trustee . Higdon's list of commissioners is extensive and includes The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Chicago Symphony, The Atlanta Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Minnesota Orchestra, The Pittsburgh Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well such groups as the Tokyo String Quartet, the Lark Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, and the President's Own Marine Band. Higdon is honored to be a part of the sixth recording by the Apollo Chamber Players. Higdon makes her living from commissions and her music is known for its technical skill and audience appeal. Jennifer Elaine Higdon (born December 31, 1962 [1] ) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. 1, Op. According to a recent survey of US orchestras, Higdon is one of the most performed living American composers. true Jennifer Higdon's title blue cathedral refers to Higdon's younger brother's name Jennifer KohvnAtlanta Symphony and Chorus / Robert Spano. Her music is in such high demand that she's able to compose exclusively on commission. Jennifer Higdon (b. And I have a tendency to make musical events happen or turn over fast. She has explained her philosophy partly as a reaction to the anything-goes happenings she experienced through her fathers artistic interests, her grounding in the steady rhythms of popular music, and also the dogged determination she felt she needed in order to make up for her own late start. 35. The work was jointly commissioned by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the Curtis Institute of Music. This song sets a text by Walt Whitman, from When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd. Spiral bound score, 14 p. . Her music is in such high demand that shes able to compose exclusively on commission. Pulitzer officials described the concerto as "a deeply engaging piece that combines flowing lyricism with dazzling virtuosity.". Jennifer Higdon: Violin Concerto. Jennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto was completed in August of 2008 and premiered 6 February 2009 by the work's dedicatee, Hilary Hahn, with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (co-commissioner) and Mario Venzago, serving as conductor. "I'm going to attend my students' composition concert tonight at Curtis and try not to steal any of their thunder," she says. Jennifer Higdon's myriad accolades and accomplishments are impressive by any standard, but particularly in the world of contemporary classical music. Performers interested in learning the Concerto will no doubt find many practical suggestions in regards to bowings, fingerings and performance practice contained within this treatise. String Poetic: Nocturne. Part concerto, part choral song-cycle,The Singing Roomis one of Higdons most ingenious and affecting creations. "Smoky Mountain Air" by Jennifer Higdon Performed by Rachel Loseke, violin "Nowhere to Hide" by Alice Jones Performed by Kelsey Bentley, French horn "hill and valley" by Mary Kouyoumdjian Performed by Hillary Herndon, viola "O-O-O" by Yaz Lancaster Performed by Claire Chenette, oboe "Ten Children #13" by Michael Lowenstern Higdon is one of five composers commissioned by violinist Joshua Bell for a five-movement suite for violin and orchestra. She has employed such experimental touches in other works, as well, perhaps a reflection of her studies with George Crumb, who loved to create new timbres through special instrumental effects. Societies & Foundation Associations near Missoula, MT. She's won a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy Award. And its quintessential Higdon, marrying simplicity with complexity, and stability with surprise. her answer was "the usual time; learning the notes is the easy part" of preparation. Higdon does not intentionally compose with a form in mind, but allows the music to unfold naturally. Jennifer Higdon is one of America's most acclaimed and most frequently performed living composers. Williams, M. B. H. (2010). [6] Popular and folk music were not the only early influences on her composition; the mountains and wide open spaces of her Tennessee home have influenced her style, and even helped bond her to George Crumb, who encouraged her to use nature as a muse.[14]. Conductors who worked extensively with her include Christoph Eschenbach, Marin Alsop, Leonard Slatkin, and Giancarlo Guerrero. Last edited on 13 December 2022, at 23:32, Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition, "Despite Anxiety and Naysayers, Composer Wins Her Pulitzer", "Composer Jennifer Higdon pursues friendly music", "Marin Alsop Schmoozes with the Academy Festival Orchestra", "The Santa Fe Opera Announces New Works for Forthcoming season", "Comprehensive analysis of selected orchestral works by Jennifer Higdon", "20072008 Season Orchestra Repertoire Report", "Philadelphia composer Jennifer Higdon scores a Grammy", "Alumna wins Grammy for Percussion Concerto", "2020 GRAMMY Awards: Complete Winners List", "Jennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto- the Genesis of a 21st-century Work", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jennifer_Higdon&oldid=1127297220, This page was last edited on 13 December 2022, at 23:32. 2023 Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Indeed, the climaxes are carefully placed, not just within the individual movements but in the work as a whole, which forms a shapely and satisfying dramatic arc. David Ng is a former Company Town reporter for the Los Angeles Times. She tries to reflect the mood of the text, which results in melodies that tend to have a more romantic sound. Jennifer Higdon's Pulitzer Prize-winning Violin Concerto, written especially for her former student Hilary Hahn, was co-commissioned in 2009 by the Indianapolis, Toronto, and Baltimore symphony orchestras, as well as by the Curtis Institute of Music, where both Hahn and Higdon studied, and where Higdon has been a faculty member since 1994 . This is Higdons runaway hit; since its premiere at Curtis in 2000, it has been performed more than 500 times. Jennifer Higdon is one of the cherished names in contemporary American classical music. He said that did this with the orchestra that Schumann himself had conducted in Dusseldorf, which is used to steady tempos and he did not know whether this would provoke outrage and they actually liked it enough to ask him to be their "Schumann" conductor. In Tempus Praesens He referred to the music as "American contemporary music at its most vacuous, a noisy mishmash". Jennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto, addressing concerns of linear and contrapuntal development, along with the harmonic language employed in this movement, to prove that these traits are at the heart of Higdon's compositional voice and are what make her works accessible, yet engaging. All Rights Reserved. Her earliest compositions date to the early '80s, but she emerged as an important figure in the period of the new millennium with such orchestra works as blue cathedral (1999), City Scape (2002), and Concerto for Orchestra (2002). Her orchestral work, blue cathedral, is one of the most performed contemporary orchestral works in the repertoire, more than 650 performances since its premiere in 2000. Higdons sure dramatic sense is evident, too, in blue cathedral (2000), a 12-minute tone-poem written as a memorial to her younger brother, Andrew Blue Higdon, who died of cancer in his early thirties. Here, again, the composer has written a crowd-pleaser that pleases for reasons one might not expect. Violin Concerto in D major, Op.35I. Terms & Conditions | She didnt begin composing until she was 21 and even then only at the behest of her flute teacher but went on to complete graduate studies at Curtis and the University of Pennsylvania, working with Ned Rorem and George Crumb, respectively. The first is enigmatically denoted "1726," a number Higdon says has meaning to both her and Hahn and she has promised an autographed copy of the score to the first six respondents correctly guessing what this significance is. Allegro moderato [0:19:22.71] 05. The Mannes Orchestra, led by Mannes Director of Orchestral and Conducting Studies David Hayes, returns to Alice Tully Hall in a concert featuring a symphonic world premiere by Adolphus Hailstork, a New York premiere by Zhou Tian, a New York premiere by Jennifer Higdon featuring CoPA . Instead, her early musical education came from listening to rock and folk music from the 1960s. By Jennifer Higdon. [8] Of playing in the university orchestra, she has said: "Because I came to classical music very differently than most people, the newer stuff had more appeal for me than the older. Legacy, for violin and piano, is a brief but passionate elegy, while the Sax Sonata for alto saxophone suggests nocturnal urban landscapes. She is a major figure in contemporary classical music, receiving the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, and Grammy Awards for the recordings of her Percussion Concerto (2010), Viola Concerto (2018), and Harp Concerto (2020). Glance through the Upcoming Performances page of her official website and youll find that her work is being played not only by the Houston Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra, but also by municipal, community, and high school ensembles across the country. Her works have been recorded on over 60 CDs. Hilary Hahn, violin. Violin ConcertoIII. Jennifer Higdon *1962Violin Concerto - Dedicated to Hilary Hahn00:00 1. At 15, she happened upon her mothers old flute and, with the help of a method book, taught herself. Jennifer Higdon's Concerto for Orchestrais a familiar work to the Atlanta audience; it was performed here in 2015 and 2019. Pale Yellow, the first movement of her Piano Trio (2003), is an especially lovely example, as both elements are so tender and lyrical. In addition she has received grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Jennifer Higdon's style, however, is direct and imaginative, filled with unique harmonic colors, solid thematic development, and a subtle and intimate lyricism. The piece was later awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music.[2][3][4]. The premiere recording of Jennifer Higdon's Pulitzer Prize-winning Violin Concerto, set for release this week, is a happy development on just about every front. The finale is "Fly Forward," a name that came to Higdon during the Olympics last year when she was working on the movement and which she thought an apt term to apply to what Hahn was going to play. Chaconni26:40 3. This website and all content copyright 2009-2022 Jennifer Higdon, Inc.Site Design: Canfield Design Studios, Inc. 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