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Jennifer Higdon wrote her Concerto for Orchestra for the Philadelphia Orchestra and its then-Music Director Wolfgang Sawallisch who gave the work its premiere in 2002 (a performance that was recorded). Since then it's also been recorded by the Atlanta Symphony and, on a new Naxos album just out, by the Houston Symphony - both conducted by Robert Spano. The new recording finds the Concerto for Orchestra joined by a much newer work, Higdon's double percussion concerto, Duo Duel (2020), played by the artists who commissioned it, Svet Stoyanov and Matthew Strauss.
James Jolly caught up with Jennifer Higdon to talk about the two works' beginnings, and about how she manages her amazingly busy composing schedule.
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