October 1, 2025
In the Lab with Tim Higgins
Tim Higgins’s path toward composing began through his work as an arranger of other people’s scores. “I’ve always been interested in tinkering, with putting things on the page,” he said, “and in college I arranged a lot of music for chamber groups I was playing in.”
He has remained an active arranger ever since, but it wasn’t until his arrival in San Francisco in 2008 that he began to compose seriously. “I started to wonder what it would be like to write my own music rather than arrange other people’s, so I started experimenting. I embarked on a very informal study of composition, on my own rather than with teachers. I picked up composition textbooks that composers I have worked with recommended to me, but I am really self-taught.”
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He has remained an active arranger ever since, but it wasn’t until his arrival in San Francisco in 2008 that he began to compose seriously. “I started to wonder what it would be like to write my own music rather than arrange other people’s, so I started experimenting. I embarked on a very informal study of composition, on my own rather than with teachers. I picked up composition textbooks that composers I have worked with recommended to me, but I am really self-taught.”
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He had an advantage that most composition students can only dream of. “I sit in the orchestra every week, so I get to watch what all these composers did with a score. I’m in a laboratory where I can see what works well—or doesn’t. I started to identify what was a challenge in writing a piece of music, and why.”
This month, Higgins’s latest work, Market Street, 1920s—which he describes as “over the top, farcical, tongue-in-cheek”—receives its world premiere by the San Francisco Symphony with conductor Gustavo Gimeno.
“Any time a musician can step out of their section into a different role is a breath of fresh air,” Higgins says. “The San Francisco Symphony has a long tradition of successful world premieres, and I’m thrilled to add my work to that list again.”
—Adapted from an interview by James M. Keller
This month, Higgins’s latest work, Market Street, 1920s—which he describes as “over the top, farcical, tongue-in-cheek”—receives its world premiere by the San Francisco Symphony with conductor Gustavo Gimeno.
“Any time a musician can step out of their section into a different role is a breath of fresh air,” Higgins says. “The San Francisco Symphony has a long tradition of successful world premieres, and I’m thrilled to add my work to that list again.”
—Adapted from an interview by James M. Keller
