Jennifer Higdon
Over the last two decades Jennifer Higdon has become one of the busiest and most-performed composers in the US, as well as the winner of a Pulitzer Prize and three Grammys. Several recordings are in the pipeline, not to mention the forthcoming Philadelphia premiere of her new chamber opera, Woman With Eyes Closed.
I came to music relatively late. When I was 15 years old, I taught myself to play the flute from a book we had in the house and joined the high school marching band; I loved the camaraderie. There was just something about music and I decided that I was going to major in it. So when I went o to college I was really starting from ground zero, but I loved music so much that even though it was obvious I was way behind everyone else, I didn’t want to give it up – even when people said there was no way I could do it.
My flute teacher made a big impact. Her name was Judy Bentley and she was a real can-do teacher. She’s also the first person that really got me to compose. I learned a lot from Ned Rorem and George Crumb too. Rorem’s teaching was about the vocal line, while Crumb pushed me to think about colour and using instruments in unusual ways. Winning the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music for my Violin Concerto was overwhelming.
I had just had a tetanus shot the morning that I got the news, and everyone kept coming up to me and hitting me on the shoulder to congratulate me! My arm was so sore from the shot that I had tears in my eyes. I got a lot of o ers of commissions as a result of the prize, but my schedule was already full, so I was able to hand a lot of things over to other younger composers.
Writing my first opera was daunting. The conductors Robert Spano and Donald Runnicles told me that writing an opera would help me to grow as an artist. It seemed so scary, but I decided to do it. I had been working in the orchestral and chamber world so extensively that I needed to get to know the artform. It took years to find the right story, but Cold Mountain resonated on an instinctive level.
I consider myself the luckiest composer on the planet. I’m very fortunate and I don’t take it for granted; every day I get up and think ‘Let’s go do the best we can’. It’s an amazing ride.