About Sam

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 Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Bach’s Ich habe genug (BWV 82) and Kreuz und Krone from BWV 12.

His 2022-23 Season included performances of Bach’s Cantata BWV 54 Widerstehe, doch der Sünde and Handel’s “Va Tacito” from Giulio Cesare with the New Hampshire Music Festival. As a member of the 2023 American Bach Soloists Academy, he performed Bach’s “Christi Glieder” from BWV 132, “Beruft gott selbst,” from BWV 88, and “Lobet den Herrn” in small chamber groups. With the large ABS Academy Orchestra, Higgins performed Bach’s incredible Magnificat (BWV 243), along with the Trauerode (BWV 198) and Jesu der du meine Seele (BWV 78) conducted by Jeffrey Thomas. At Curtis, composer Leigha Amick wrote a piece entitled “From the Memory of the Machines” for Higgins, scored for countertenor and electronics. He also performed small roles in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and Donizetti’s L’elisir D’amore.



At Curtis in the 2021-22 season, he performed “Deep Blue,” a piece written for him by composer Adrian Wong. He also sang scenes from Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and all of Purcell’s From Hardy Climes and Dangerous Toils of War.

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 was a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestras’ Children’s Chorus for the 2017 – 2018 season performances of Mahler’s 3rd Symphony and La Boheme with maestro Andris Nelsons. Sam started singing with Boston City Singers at the age of four and was a member for eleven years. 

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.

Media

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Resumé

Sam Higgins

Countertenor

Honors and Awards

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Schmidt National Undergraduate Competition, 2023 – Winner

Handel and Haydn Society Barbara E. Maze Award, 2023 – Winner

NATS Competition, 2021 – First Place Winner

UMass Young Artists Award, 2021

Young Arts Finalist, 2021

Schmidt Competition Boston, 2021 – First Prize Winner

Classical Singer Competition, 2020 – First Prize Winner, High School Classical division

YoungArts Winner, 2020

Classical Singer Online Summer Competition, 2019, Finalist

Schmidt Competition Boston, 2019, Finalist, Most Promising Sophomore

Spotlight on High School Talent, Polymnia Choral Society, 2018, Winner

Fidelity Young Artists Competition at the Boston Pops, 2018, Grand Prize Winner

Solo Performances

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Appearance on NPR’s “From the Top”, George Mason University Center for the Performing Arts, 

Dove sei, amato bene, G.F Handel, February 29, 2020

Handel and Haydn High School Soloists Recital, New England Conservatory of Music, 

Mandoline, Gabriel Fauré, Tu lo Sai, Giuseppe Torelli January 8, 2020

Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Young Artists Vocal Program Art Song Recital

Cabin, Paul Bowles, August 5, 2019

Metropolitan Opera Guild High School Singers Intensive Recital, Juilliard School, NYC

Vaga luna, che inargenti, Vincenzo Bellini, February 22, 2019

Polymnia Choral Society, Murray Kidd, Conductor, Melrose, MA

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, Trad., December 1, 2018

Boston Symphony Orchestra Pops, Keith Lockhart Conductor,Symphony Hall Boston

Bereite dich, Zion,  J.S.Bach, June 8, 2018

Zamir Chorale, Joshua Jacobson, Condutor, Temple Emanuel, Newton

Chichester Psalms, Leonard Bernstein, June 14, 2017

Northeastern College Choir, Joshua Jacobson, Conductor

Chichester Psalms, Leonard Bernstein, April 9, 2017

Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Eric Stern Conductor

Mass, Leonard Bernstein, 4 Performances, April 4 – 9, 2017

Falmouth Chorale, Zamir Chorale, Joshua Jacobson, Conductor

Chichester Psalms, Leonard Bernstein, March 19, 2017

Trygve Lie Plaza Dedication, United Nations Complex, NYC

Peace Poem After A Ugartic Inscription, Peter Childs, September 18, 2016

MIT Chorus, Dr. William Cutter, Conductor

Chichester Psalms, Leonard Bernstein, May 6, 2016

Coro Allegro, David Hodgkins, David Kravitz

Voice Of Isaac, Howard Franzin, March 13, 2016

NE Philharmonic, Richard Pittman, Conductor, Dana Whiteside and David Kravitz, Baritones

Elijah’s Angel, Robert Kapilow, December 13, 2015

Manchester Choral Society, Dan Perkins, Conductor, Hannaway Theater, Plymouth NH

Chichester Psalms, Leonard Bernstein, December 6, 2015

Manchester Choral Society, Dan Perkins, Conductor, Brookside CC, Manchester NH

Chichester Psalms, Leonard Bernstein, December 5, 2015

Manchester Choral Society, Dan Perkins, Conductor, Nashua North HS, NH

Chichester Psalms, Leonard Bernstein, December 4, 2015

Lexington High School Orchestra and Chorus, MA

Chichester Psalms, Leonard Bernstein, March 4, 2015

Celestial Christmas Concert, Wakefield Unitarian Church MA

In Paradisum, Gabriel Faure (from Requiem), December 21, 2014

Boston Conservatory of Music Chorus and Orchestra, George Case, Conductor

Chichester Psalms, Leonard Bernstein, December 10, 2014


Training

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Denyce Graves, (Several coachings), International Opera Star

James Burton, Director, Tanglewood Festival Chorus

Kerry Deal, DMA, Associate Professor of Voice, Boston Conservatory at Berklee

Ellie Shattles, DMA, Voice Instructor, Boston University Tanglewood institute

Corey Hart, DMA, Voice Instructor,  New England Conservatory, Preparatory Division 

Eiji Miura, MM, Voice Instructor,  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Sam Higgins, a countertenor with “innate musicality” and a “complex understanding of music” is a seasoned performer who has been singing with orchestras since the age of 11.

samhigginslion@gmail.com

Repertoire

G. F. Handel

• ‘Dove sei, amato bene,’ from Rodelinda
• ‘Ombra mai fu,’ from Serse
• ‘Va Tacito e nascosto,’ from Giulio Cesare
• ‘Si, spietata il tuo rigore,’ from Giulio Cesare
• ‘L’empio sleale, indegno’ from Giulio Cesare
• ‘Lusinghiera, mia speranza,’ from Agrippina
• ‘He shall feed his flock’ from Messiah
• ‘Pena tiranna,’ from Amadigi di Gaula

J. S. Bach

• ‘Bereite dich, Zion,’ Christmas Oratorio
• ‘Schlafe, mein Liebster, genieße der Ruh,’ Christmas Oratorio
• ‘Buß und reu,’ St. Matthew Passion
• ‘Ach, nun ist mein Jesus hin,’ St. Matthew Passion
• ‘Könnnen Tränen,’ St. Matthew Passion
• ‘Sehet Jesus hat die hand,’ St. Matthew Passion
• ‘Von den Stricken,’ St. John Passion
• ‘Qui sedes,’ B Minor Mass
• ‘Ich habe genug,’ BWV 82

French Art Song

• ‘Mandoline,’ Gabriel Faure
• ‘En Sourdine,’ G. Faure
• ‘Ouvre tes yeux bleus’ J. Massenet
• ‘L’enamouree,’ Reynaldo Hahn
• ‘Si mes vers,’ R. Hahn
• ‘Le dromadaire,’ F. Poulenc

German Art Song

• ‘Du bist wie eine Blume,’ R. Schumann
• ‘Widmung,’ Schumann
• ‘Abendempfindung,’ W.A. Mozart
• ‘Du bist die Ruh,’ F. Schubert
• ‘An Sylvia,’ Schubert
• ‘An die Musik,’ Schubert
• ‘Vergebliches Ständchen,’ J. Brahms
• ‘Morgen,’ Richard Strauss
• ‘Allerseelen,’ Strauss
• ‘Die Nacht,’ Strauss
• ‘Ständchen,’ Strauss
• ‘Die Veilchen,’ Josephine Lang

Italian Art Song/Arias

• ‘Vaga luna, che inargenti,’ V. Bellini
• ‘Tu lo sai,’ G. Torelli
• ‘Vedro con mio diletto,’ A. Vivaldi
• ‘Come raggio di sol,’ Antonio Caldara
• ‘Amarilli, mia bella,’ Giulio Caccini
• ‘Deh! Placatevi con me,’ from Orfeo ed Euridice by G.W. Gluck
• ‘O del mio dolce ardor,’ C.W. Gluck
• ‘O del mio amato ben,’ Stefano Donaudy

English Art Song/Arias

• ‘Simple Song,’ L. Bernstein
• ‘Secrets of the Old,’ Samuel Barber
• ‘Sure on this shining night,’ S. Barber
• ‘The Daisies,’ S. Barber
• ‘Flower of this Purple dye,’ B. Britten
• ‘Cabin,’ Paul Bowles
• ‘The year’s at the spring’ Amy Beach
• ‘Music for a while,’ Purcell

Latin Arias

• ‘O quam tristis,’ from Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater

Full Works Performed

• ‘Deep Blue’ Adrian Wong, written for Sam Higgins
• ‘From the Memory of the Machines,’ Leigha Amick, written for Sam Higgins
• ‘Wiederstehe doch der sünde’ BWV 54, J.S. Bach
• ‘Chichester Psalms,’ L. Bernstein
• ‘Mass,’ L. Bernstein
• ‘Voice of Isaac,’ Howard Frazin
• ‘Elijah’s Angel,’ Robert Kapilow

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