Grammy and Pulitzer Prize winning composer Jennifer Higdon visits West Liberty University on March 6 and 7, 2013, to share her skills with students as she presents a Composition Masterclass and films a webinar in the WLU-TV 14 studio. During the webinar she will respond to questions submitted by young musicians from around the state of West Virginia.
“We are so pleased to welcome Jennifer to campus and we thank all who made this possible,” said Dr. Matthew D. Harder, associate professor of music and interim chairman for the department of music and theater.
Higdon also will be in town for the local premiere of her Concerto for Orchestra with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra on Friday, March 8 at Wheeling’s Capitol Theatre. Higdon is in residence with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra March 6-8 through the generosity of Judge & Mrs. Frederick P. Stamp, Jr., funding from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, and a grant through the Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy.
Higdon 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.
She is one of the most performed living American composers working today. Her list of commissioners range from the Cleveland Orchestra to the Philadelphia Orchestra; from eighth blackbird to the Tokyo String Quartet; and from The President’s Own Marine Band to such artists as Hilary Hahn. Higdon received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, with the committee citing Higdon’s work as a “deeply engaging piece that combines flowing lyricism with dazzling virtuosity.” She has also received awards from the Serge Koussevitzky Foundation, 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 January, 2010, Higdon received a GRAMMY for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her Percussion Concerto. She holds the Rock Chair in Composition at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
For more information, please read the article in the Wheeling News-Register.