Sorel Visiting Artist

Jennifer Higdon, (b. Brooklyn, NY; New Year’s Eve, 1962) makes her living solely from commissions and publishing. Her works represent a range of genres, from chamber to orchestral and wind ensemble, as well as vocal, choral and opera.

Higdon's list of commissioners is extensive and includes The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Chicago Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well such groups as the Tokyo String Quartet, the Lark Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, and the President’s Own United States Marine Band.  She has also written works for such renowned artists as baritone Thomas Hampson and mezzo Sasha Cooke; pianists Yuja Wang and Gary Graffman; and violinists Joshua Bell, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, and Hilary Hahn. Her first opera, Cold Mountain, was commissioned by Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia, North Carolina Opera, and Minnesota Opera. It was awarded the prestigious International Opera Award for Best World Premiere in 2016; a suite from that opera was recently co-commissioned and performed by a group of 36 orchestras.

Upcoming premieres for the ’24-25 season include a new opera for Pittsburgh Opera, a chamber work for the Icarus Quartet, and an orchestral work for the Chicago Youth Symphony.

Jennifer received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto. She is also a three-time Grammy-winner.

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.” The Chicago Sun Times recently cited her music as “both modern and timeless, complex and sophisticated, and immensely engaging in a way that both charms and galvanizes an audience craving something new and full of urgency, yet not distancing.” John von Rhein
of the Chicago Tribune called her writing, “beautiful, accessible, inventive, and impeccably crafted.”

Higdon enjoys more than 250 performances annually of her works. Her orchestral work, blue cathedral, is one of the most performed contemporary orchestral pieces in the repertoire (having had more than 1,100 performances).

Jennifer’s works have been recorded on more than 90 CDs. The Library of Congress has added the London Philharmonic recording of her Percussion Concerto to the National Recording Registry.

She was recently inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Philosophical Society (founded by Benjamin Franklin).

For more information: www.jenniferhigdon.com

Thursday, Sept. 12, she will participate in a roundtable discussion about women in music at 7 p.m. in Rosch Recital Hall with Kate Sheeran, Dean of the Eastman School of Music, and Fredonia faculty members Paula Holcomb, Laura Koepke, and Emily Schaad.

Friday, Sept. 13, Higdon will give a lecture presentation on her music in Mason Hall 2019 at 4 p.m. 

Friday, Sept. 13, there is a Chamber Music Recital at 7:30 p.m. featuring works by Higdon, performed by SUNY Fredonia faculty and members of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Location: Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (Buffalo, NY). This program will be repeated on Saturday, Sept. 14 in Rosch Recital Hall (Fredonia, NY).

Saturday, Sept. 14, Higdon will give a masterclass to Fredonia student composers in Mason Hall 1080 at 2 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 14, Chamber Music Recital featuring works by Higdon, performed by Fredonia faculty and members of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in Rosch Recital Hall at 8 p.m. This is a repeat of the Friday evening program in Buffalo.

Coming soon

2023-2024: Dr. Valerie Coleman

2022-2023: Dr. Chen Yi