According to pianist and music critic Richard Cameron-Wolfe, “If there is a ‘short list’ of 21st-century composers to watch, I sincerely believe that Jennifer Higdon must be included.” On Sunday, Oct. 15, Higdon will lecture about her music. The talk will begin at 8:15 p.m. in the Iger Lecture Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music. On Monday, Oct. 16, faculty and student musicians will perform several of Higdon’s works in a free concert beginning at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall in the Whalen Center. The program will include the full symphony orchestra, a marimba ensemble, and members of Kulmusik, a contemporary chamber ensemble.
In addition to the public events, she will provide individual instruction for composition students in the School of Music.
Born in Brooklyn in 1962, Higdon maintains a full schedule of commissions, averaging six to 12 works a year. Considered by many critics to be a major figure in contemporary American music, Higdon holds an extensive list of commissioners, including the Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras; the Chicago, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and National Symphonies; St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; and the Tokyo String Quartet.
Critics and audiences alike have recognized Higdon’s music as being both powerfully communicative yet musically demanding. According to the Portland Press Herald, Higdon’s orchestral work “blue cathedral” “is among the most daring and inventive new compositions to surface in years.” Played more than 50 times in the 2004–5 season alone, the work is one of the most performed contemporary orchestral works in the United States.
Higdon’s many honors include awards from the American Academy of Arts & Letters, Pew Fellowship in the Arts, Meet-the-Composer, National Endowment for the Arts, and ASCAP. She is currently composer-in-residence with the Philadelphia Singers.
Created in 1987 to honor former longtime faculty member and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Karel Husa, the visiting professorship brings an eminent composer to campus each year. Past Husa visiting professors have included Samuel Adler, George Crumb, Libby Larson, John Harbison, Chen Yi, and Robert Beaser.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/2006100910205613