Artistic Biography:

Nils Higdon is one of Chicago’s most prominent young percussionists, having performed at the United Center, Orchestra Hall, The Green Mill, The Logan Center for the Arts, The Chicago Cultural Center, The Jazz Showcase, Pritzker Pavillion at Millenium Park, and six appearances at the Chicago Jazz Festival.

As a drum set artist, Nils has beat time for premier musicians such as Joe Rendón and Dr. Rosephanye Powell. While specializing in drum set and improvised music, he routinely spends evenings and weekends traveling not only between various performances but also between a wide range of musical styles and percussion instruments. It is very common for Nils to spend his evenings playing second line music or latin jazz, and then play timpani and mallet percussion at Grace Church the next morning. 

A strong advocate for original music, Nils was a featured instrumentalist with the Chicago Composers Orchestra for the premier performance of De Rerum, a work by Princeton-based composer, Elliot Cole. Also in the world of modern classical music, he was the featured soloist in Drum Factory, a concerto for drum set with full orchestra, written by Justin Leo Kennedy. Nils also played for the Chicago premier of The Gospel Trinity, a suite of gospel music written by Dr. Rosephanye Powell that utilizes rhythm section and choir.  In 2018 Nils was a featured performer with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra on the first ever recording of Grand Slam Jam, a Duke Ellington composition for orchestra and jazz ensemble. And also in 2018, Nils arranged “Txori Erresiñula” (The Nightingale), a piece for vibraphone and flamenco band that he performed at Instituto Cervantes as the vibraphone soloist.

As an instructor, Nils teaches applied percussion lessons at Riverside-Brookfield high school, and Ridgewood high school, as well.  He routinely writes compositions and arrangements for his students and has completed an original teaching manual, Percussion Practicing Guidebook. Nils has also been a teaching artist for the Chicago Metamorphosis Orchestra Project and, on multiple occasions, a percussion judge for the Illinois Music Education Association, District 1. Under his instruction, students of his have earned positions in ILMEA Jazz Ensemble 1, the Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage, and the Metro-Suburban Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensembles. Former students of his have been accepted to and earned scholarships from the music schools of Elmhurst College, Roosevelt University, North Central College, University of Illinois, Concordia, and Northwestern University.

Nils is from Chicago, Illinois, where he attended the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. He studied primarily with Rubén Álvarez, Ed Harrison, Paul Wertico, and Scott Mason. Nils attended the University on both musical and academic scholarships and is the third person in the history of Roosevelt University to complete both the Music School and Scholars Program. In 2008 he graduated summa cum laude and earned his Bachelors of Music degree. He majored in Jazz Studies and minored in both classical percussion and metropolitan social issues. In December of 2022, Nils earned his Master of Arts degree in Percussion Pedagogy from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, where he studied with Tina Laughlin. He graduated with high honors and a 4.0 GPA.

Nils Higdon is also the survivor of a serious injury to both of his hands, and a severe disorder of the nervous system. His favorite expression is “You get to live on Earth- WHAT A LOCATION!”