Hix wins Thomas Hampson Award

A Furman degree can truly take you anywhere, and baritone Michael Hix ’98, is proving just that. Hix is lighting up the concert stage and racking up music awards across the U.S. and the world. Hix was recently awarded the Thomas Hampson Award from the American Musicological Society in November 2013. The award, generously provided by the Hampson Foundation, supports musicological research in the area of art song. Additionally, he was awarded a research visit grant by the German Academic Exchange Service.

The Thomas Hampson Award, coupled with the research visit grant, will assist Hix as he continues research on the songs of Paul Dessau, which will be done while he is in residency at the Academy of Arts in Berlin, Germany in June 2014.

Hix’s performance career has expanded rapidly during the past year, including his solo debut in Carnegie Hall where he sang the baritone solos in Rutter’s Mass of the Children in May 2013. Other recent performances include solo appearances with the New Mexico Philharmonic, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Canticum Novum, and Tucson Chamber Artists, just to name a few.

Hix graduated from Furman with a bachelor of music degree in music theory, where he studied voice with Dr. Bruce Schoonmaker and Dr. Trudy Fuller. After graduation, he attended Florida State University where he earned dual masters degrees in voice and historical musicology, and a doctorate of music in voice performance. Hix now serves as assistant professor of vocal studies at the University of New Mexico. For more information on Dr. Hix, upcoming performances and sound clips, visit www.michaelhixbaritone.net.