It’s been quite a year for BGSU alumna Jennifer Higdon. Just two months after receiving her second Grammy Award, Higdon learned yesterday (April 12) she was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Music for her “Violin Concerto.”
The piece premiered on Feb. 6, 2009 with the Indianapolis Symphony. The Pulitzer committee called it a “deeply engaging piece that combines flowing lyricism with dazzling virtuosity.” Higdon will receive $10,000.
Back in January, Higdon’s “Percussion Concerto” won a Grammy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.
After graduating from BGSU in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in flute performance, Higdon received master’s and doctoral degrees in composition from the University of Pennsylvania and an artist diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she is now on the composition faculty. Her work has been commissioned and performed by orchestras across the country, and she has received many prestigious awards and fellowships.
Her teachers at Bowling Green included Dr. Marilyn Shrude, Dr. Burton Beerman, Dr. Wallace DePue, Judith Bentley and Robert Spano, who directed the Bowling Green Philharmonia from 1985-89.