2024 EMERGING ARTISTS

Originally from El Paso, Texas, Bobby Harris has spent time as principal oboist in the Lux Solaris Philharmonia, the Gilbert and Sullivan and opera company orchestra, and as a guest soloist with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra and El Paso Winds. He has also performed with the Las Cruces Chamber Ballet in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Bobby is now a freelance oboist based in San Marcos, Texas. In Central Texas he has appeared as a soloist with choirs in the area, played chamber music, and been in a number of large ensembles. He appeared as a concerto soloist with the Texas State University Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he teaches private lessons to young students in Hays County.

Bobby’s summer activities include attendance at the Rocky Ridge Summer Music Institute outside of Estes Park, Colorado where he studied with Peter Cooper and Jason Lichtenwalter, two oboists from the Colorado Symphony. He has spent other summers in Twin Lake, Michigan where he performed with the Blue Lake Festival Band live on the radio, played in various chamber groups, and served as a teacher and staff member.

Bobby currently studies oboe at the Texas State University School of Music under Dr. Ian Davidson. Masterclasses at Texas State include John Dee, Andrea Ridilla, Johanna Cox Pennington, Mark Ackerman, Stephen Caplan, and Jared Hauser.

Countertenor Sam Higgins has received national recognition for his “innate musicality” and his “complex understanding of music.” He has been singing with orchestras since the age of 11. His most recent prizes include first place at the 2023 Schmidt Undergraduate Awards, second place in the International MIOpera Competition, and his win of the 2023 Barbara E. Maze award presented by the Handel and Haydn Society. In 2018, he was named a Grand Prize Winner in the Fidelity Young Artists Competition at the Boston Symphony Pops.The Grand Prize award included a solo performance of “Bereite dich, Zion” from the Christmas Oratorio of J.S. Bach with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Symphony Orchestra Pops in Symphony Hall. On February 29th, 2020, Sam performed Handel’s aria “Dove sei, amato bene” from Rodelinda on NPR’s “From the Top.”In May of 2021, he was awarded first place at the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition. His win at the National Classical Singer Competition came in May of 2020, where he was then featured in the summer issue of Classical Singer Magazine. In February of 2019, he participated in the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s High School Singers Intensive as one of only ten singers selected nationwide. In May of 2021, Higgins was awarded first place at the Boston Schmidt Vocal Competition. Sam attended the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Vocal program in the summer of 2019. In August of 2021, he entered the esteemed Curtis Institute of Music studying under Julia Faulkner and selected by baritone Eric Owens.

Higgins’ 2023-24 Season starts with his participation in Opera Philadelphia’s “Festival O’23,” where he will perform Britten’s Canticle II.He then performs the alto part in Handel’s Oratorio L’allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato at Curtis in mid-November. Throughout the year, he will perform Bach’s Ich habe genug (BWV 82), Kreuz und Krone from BWV 12, and Vergnügte ruh, beliebte seelenlust (BWV 170), as well as many other standalone arias with Emmanuel Music in Boston. In the 2023-24 season, Higgins is set to perform new works by composers Juan Pablo Carreño, Maya Miro Johnson, Adrian Wong, and Leigha Amick. He will also attend the Houston Grand Opera YAVA program in May, and the Chautauqua Opera Conservatory in July,where he will perform the lead role of “Ruggiero” in G.F. Handel’s Alcina.

Between the ages of 12 and 14, Sam performed the boy soprano solo in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms nine times with seven different organizations.In December of 2015 at the age of 13, Sam was the boy soprano soloist with the New England Philharmonic under the direction of Richard Pittman in a performance of Robert Kapilow’s Elijah’s Angel with baritones David Kravitz and Dana Whiteside. Sam performed the boy soprano solo in the world premiere of Howard Franzin’s The Voice of Isaac in March of 2016 with Baritone David Kravitz and Coro Allegro under the direction of David Hodgkins. Also in 2016, Sam performed Peter Child’s Peace Poem after a Ugartic Inscription for the dedication of the Trygve Lie Plaza at the United Nations compound in N.Y.C. for the Prime Minister of Norway and other dignitaries. Sam has previously studied voice with Corey Hart at NEC, the Director of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, Kerry Deal of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Ellie Shattles of the University of Texas at Austin, and Eiji Muira of MIT.

Faith DeBow has served as collaborative pianist and Emerging Artist Coordinator on the leadership team of the Victoria Bach Festival since 2010.  Faith is sought after for both solo and collaborative performances as well as choral accompaniment and teaching. She enjoys a vibrant career based in the Central Texas region. Her playing has been heard in outer space at the International Space Station, performing Christmas music on video for astronauts working there during the holiday season.

Ms. DeBow has performed with opera singer Renée Fleming; conductors Peter Bay, Anton Coppola, Craig Hella Johnson, and Sebastian Lang-Lessing; and has performed the works of composers Jake Heggie, Libby Larsen, Roberto Sierra, and Michael Schelle. She has also premiered works by Donald Grantham, Cary Ratcliff, Jake Runestad, and John Muehleisen. In 2012, Ms. DeBow commissioned and premiered Brilliant Sky, a solo piano work by Colin Sorgi. She has served as rehearsal pianist in premieres composed by Stephen Paulus, Kevin Puts, Nico Muhly, Tarik O’Regan, Dan Welcher, Eric Banks, and Robert Kyr.