BGSU alumna wins second Grammy

BOWLING GREEN, O—Bowling Green State applauds alumna Jennifer Higdon, who last night (Jan. 31) received her second Grammy Award. Her "Percussion Concerto" won for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.

The work was commissioned by Philadelphia Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony and Dallas Symphony and recorded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Marin Alsop.

Previously, Higdon's album of her compositions "City Scape" and "Concerto for Orchestra" was named the Best Classical Engineered Album. Released in 2004 on Telarc, the recording was also nominated for best classical contemporary composition, classical album and orchestral performance.

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.

(Posted February 01, 2010 )