Jennifer Higdon is an American composer who was born in 1962. She came to classical music late. She taught herself the flute at 15 and did not begin to compose until she was 21. She went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and three Grammy Awards, and she is among the most performed living American composers. The best first piece for a child is blue cathedral.
Quick facts
- Born: 1962, in Brooklyn, New York
- Lives: in North Carolina
- Era: Contemporary
- Plays: flute
- Known for: blue cathedral, the Violin Concerto, the Percussion Concerto, and the opera Cold Mountain
The life in short
Higdon was born in Brooklyn, New York. She spent her first ten years in Atlanta, Georgia. Then her family moved to Seymour, in East Tennessee.
Her father was an artist, and she grew up around art. She heard little classical music at home.
At 15, she taught herself to play the flute, and she joined her high school’s concert band. She began formal music study at 18. She was 21 before she wrote her first piece.
She was years behind students who had started as small children, and some of her professors doubted her. She caught up by hard work.
She taught composing at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia from 1994 to 2021.
In 2010, her Violin Concerto won the Pulitzer Prize. Her opera Cold Mountain was first staged in 2015.
She publishes her own music through a small company that she runs with her partner, Cheryl Lawson.
The story of blue cathedral
Higdon wrote blue cathedral after the death of her younger brother, Andrew Blue Higdon. The flute was her instrument, and the clarinet was his.
In the piece, a solo flute and a solo clarinet talk to each other. Near the end, the flute stops, and the clarinet goes on alone, higher and higher.
In the last minutes, players in the orchestra ring small chiming bells and rub the rims of water glasses.
More than 400 orchestras have played it.
What the music sounds like
Higdon’s music is colorful and direct. She writes strong rhythms, and she gives the percussion section a great deal to do. Her slow music is clear and open.
She has said that she came to classical music in a different way than most composers, and that newer music appealed to her more than older music.
Pieces to play first
blue cathedral. About 12 minutes for orchestra. It starts with soft bells and ends with them.
Fanfare Ritmico. Six minutes of rhythm for full orchestra, with the drums out in front.
Percussion Concerto. One player moves between a marimba, a vibraphone, drums, and more. It won a Grammy Award.
“Fly Forward,” from the Violin Concerto. The fast last part of the piece that won the Pulitzer Prize.
Things to do together
Two voices. Play blue cathedral. Raise your left hand for the flute and your right hand for the clarinet. Notice which one is left at the end.
Singing glasses. With an adult’s help, wet a finger and rub it around the rim of a stemmed glass until the glass sings. That is one of the sounds at the end of blue cathedral.
Name the drums. Watch a video of the Percussion Concerto. List each instrument the soloist plays.
Start now. Higdon began at 15 and made music her life. Ask your child what they would like to start learning this year.
A note for late starters
Parents often worry that a child has started music too late. Higdon picked up the flute at 15, with no teacher, and wrote her first piece at 21.
Print and play
Fill in a composer study notebook page for Higdon. Learn about her instrument in the flute for kids. For more women who wrote music, read women composers for kids. For more composers at work now, read living composers kids can hear today.
For more composers by era, see classical composers for kids.
Sources
Checked in November 2026.
- Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. (n.d.). Jennifer Higdon.
- Dallas Symphony Orchestra. (n.d.). Jennifer Higdon.
- Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. (n.d.). Jennifer Higdon.
- Wikipedia. (n.d.). Jennifer Higdon.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.