“People come across our paths, they touch our lives, it’s a very positive thing.” The popularity of blue cathedral she attributes to its personal story. And cathedrals, to Higdon, represented the cycle of birth, growth, death, and community. Her younger brother Andy had just died from melanoma, so she was moved to write the new piece in his memory.Īndy’s middle name was Blue. It was the 75th anniversary of Curtis, and then-director Gary Graffman asked her (she was teaching there part-time) to write an orchestral work to celebrate. She credits her studies with George Crumb there for her interest in extended instrumental techniques and the colors of unusual sounds, such as the Chinese reflex bells called for in blue cathedral. Later, Penn did accept her into their doctoral program. From one order a month in 1988, to five or more a day now, she learned to respond quickly and to make the music affordable. She began her own publishing company, and from that time until now Higdon holds the rights to all her own music. She liked living in Philadelphia, so she took the year off and worked on getting her music out to others. Graduating in 1988 from Curtis with an Artist's Diploma, Higdon applied to the University of Pennsylvania for graduate school, but was turned down. And, never waiting for “inspiration,” to always work. “I had gone from a land of black and white to Technicolor.” She learned to compose a lot. And entering that world of non-stop composing among top-flight performers was “like that scene in The Wizard of Oz,” she remembers. Whether it was from the closed door or not, Higdon did go to Curtis. Spano was the newly appointed director of the orchestras at Bowling Green University, and had been teaching conducting to Higdon, a flute major thinking about becoming a composer. "I'm not letting you out of here," Spano said, until she agreed to accept the spot from Curtis. She had just heard back from the Curtis Institute of Music - they had accepted her application for graduate studies, but so had other music schools. She was in the office of her college conducting professor, Robert Spano, seeking advice about what to do.
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