If admissions officials from Penn's Music Department knew that classical composer Jennifer Higdon would go on to win a Grammy, maybe they would not have rejected her twice.
Higdon -- who received her master's and Ph.D. from Penn after applying to the music program three times -- walked away with a Grammy Sunday night for Best Engineered Album for classical music.
"Being nominated in four categories ... was just kind of unreal. I was absolutely thrilled," said Higdon, whose album, City Scape/Concerto for Orchestra, was the most nominated disc in classical music this year.
Higdon, 43, taught herself to play the flute at age 15, giving her a relatively late start as a musician. She did not begin to formally study music until she was an undergraduate at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
While attending Penn in the early 1990's, Higdon said she benefited from the surrounding area, as she considers Philadelphia a very musical city.
It's "good atmosphere [for] exchanging ideas," Higdon said.
Although it has been several years since she has given a flute performance, her background as a performer has influenced how she crafts her complex compositions. With the musician in mind, she says that she works to create pieces that will provide performers with a meaningful experience.
"Being grounded in that performance background is important for her work and kind of grounds it in the physical realities of making music," said Undergraduate Chairman of the Music Department James Primosch, who worked with Higdon in an electronic music class. He said that she has the ability to challenge the performer without making unreasonable demands.
Music professor Jay Reise, who also worked with Higdon during her time at Penn, described her as enthusiastic and talented.
"She has a gift for finding just that right musical means to express the moment," Reise said, adding that Higdon is able to produce quality work with exceptional speed.
Higdon attributes her productivity -- she creates between six and 12 compositions annually -- to a luxury that many musicians and artists do not have. She is able to spend between four and five hours each day writing to prevent creative stagnation.
In addition to writing, Higdon also teaches composition at The Curtis Institute of Music, which is near Rittenhouse Square.
Believing that "it is an important responsibility to share experience with young students," Higdon has spent 11 years teaching.
Since winning the Grammy, Higdon says her visibility has increased. She has received a number of offers to produce more albums.
