Classical music profile: Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon is profiled in the New York Times

By Jacob Stockinger

In case you missed it, Wednesday’s edition of The New York Times featured a terrific and comprehensive profile of Jennifer Higdon (below), this year’s winner of the Pulitzer Prize in music.

It was written by Vivian Schweitzer.

Here is a link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/arts/music/22higdon.html

And here is a link to Higdon’s Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Higdon

This should be a big Higdon year, with a recording of Yuja Wang performing the premiere of Higdon’s Piano Concerto, and several videos of Hilary Hahn discussing her premiere of the Violin Concerto, which won the Pulitzer Prize and which she has recorded for release in September.

Unfortunately, YouTube does yet offer audios of those works.

But you can hear interviews with Hahn and another interview about her piano concerto.

You can also hear an excerpt for the Concerto 4-3 with its bluegrass influence, the Trombone Concerto (which won a Grammy) and the Piano Trio.

And here is a performance of “Blue Cathedral,” which she composed for her brother when he died and holds especially dear:

Do you like Higdon’s music?

Do you find it accessible?

Will you seek out more of her music?

Like to hear it performed by local musicians?

The Ear wannts to hear.

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Posted in Classical music