Long before her music reached international audiences, Heather Gilligan ’96 was already showcasing her talents in Germansville, Pennsylvania, about a half hour from Lehigh. From the age of five, she studied piano and performed in school choruses and musicals. The daughter of two teachers—including her father, Thomas Gilligan III ’68—she also excelled in athletics, winning a state championship in field hockey. Growing up attending Lehigh–Lafayette football games, the university felt familiar from the start.
“When I did my college search, I didn't want to go to a school that was more than two hours away,” she explained. “Lehigh felt like a natural fit, and I was recruited to play field hockey.”
At Lehigh, Gilligan majored in chemistry and minored in music. “Getting involved in music was never a question; it was just an extension of what I had always done,” she said.
She joined chamber ensembles, took music classes, and became the first student to present a senior recital—a shared performance with French horn player Mike D’Ambrosio. She also performed a solo concerto with the Lehigh University Orchestra. At the time, she viewed herself primarily as a pianist rather than a composer, until a composition class with professor Paul Salerni changed her trajectory. It was her first attempt at composing.
After graduation, Gilligan moved to Boston for a chemistry job. Salerni encouraged her to stay involved in music and suggested she join a chamber group at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“I applied to Longy for my master’s degree and quit my chemistry job,” she said. “At Longy, I started composing more, graduated with a degree in composition, and I have been a composer ever since. Paul played a major role in my career choice.”
Gilligan noted that her background in chemistry continues to inform her work. “My expertise in theory and composition is not unlike chemistry in a lot of ways. The benzene rings of organic chemistry evolved into the hexatonic systems of theoretical analysis, meaning that both fields use visual representations to explain applied mathematical concepts related to structures and patterns.”
Her path wasn’t without challenges. While pursuing her doctorate in music composition at Boston University College of Fine Arts, Gilligan suffered a tear in her dura mater, the membrane cushioning the brain and spinal cord, causing excruciating headaches and severely limited mobility. Unable to stand, she wrote her dissertation, a piano concerto, on a laptop while lying flat on her back. She ultimately underwent surgery to correct the condition and completed her degree on time.
Gilligan began teaching at Keene State College in New Hampshire in 2009 and is now a professor there.
“I teach music theory and composition, and professionally, I am a composer who writes commissioned music for performance,” she said. “I love digging into advanced theory concepts with my students and talking about the compositional process — from my own experience and from a pedagogical standpoint — and building assignments that help them uncover their own compositional voices.”
Her musical career has continued to flourish. Her acclaimed album of vocal chamber music with soprano Margot Rood was released by Albany Records in 2017. Her choral work, I’ll See You in the Morning, premiered at Carnegie Hall during the 2014 New York Choral Festival. She was also featured in the Washington D.C. International Music Festival, which premiered her orchestral and wind symphony works at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2015 and 2016.
Gilligan resides in Keene with her husband, Alan, and daughter, Gretchen. The family enjoys spending time outdoors and takes advantage of New England’s terrain by hiking with their dogs.
“I enjoy composing, even though it’s technically my job,” she said. “I love days when I can sit down at the piano and sight-read through repertoire. I love reading, and I am also a bit of a political junkie; I listen to a lot of political podcasts that provide commentary and analysis on our current political situation. I am also a staunch advocate for public education and the arts. I currently serve on the Keene School Board and I sometimes head to the New Hampshire statehouse to advocate for the arts and for education.”
Lehigh opened a lot of doors for Gilligan. “It was academically strong, offered opportunities for extracurriculars, and really engaged students in and out of class. I had a great experience at Lehigh.”
Spotlight Recipient
Heather Gilligan ’96
Professor of Music, Keene State College