CCM Voice student receives Encouragement Award at prestigious Houston Grand Opera Competition
Sam Dhobhany competed in the annual “Concert of Arias” on February 2
Story by CCM Graduate Assistant Lucy Evans
UC College-Conservatory of Music undergraduate Voice student Sam Dhobhany recently won the Ana Maria Martinez Encouragement Award in Houston Grand Opera’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers. Dhobhany, a bass-baritone in the studio of Professor Kenneth Shaw, competed in Houston on February 2 during the “Concert of Arias,” the competition’s live-broadcasted final round.
Sam Dhobhany.
One of the world’s premiere competitions for young singers, winners of the Eleanor McCollum Competition go on to have major careers on the world’s biggest operatic stages. This year, over 900 applicants were narrowed down to just eight finalists. The competition also serves as an audition for HGO’s prestigious Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio.
Of the finalists, three winners were selected, along with the winners of the Audience Choice Award, the Online Audience Choice Award, and the Ana Maria Martinez Encouragement Award. Created and awarded by the star soprano herself, the Ana Maria Martinez Encouragement Award is given each year in celebration of developing artists with major potential.
This month, Dhobhany sings the title role in The Marriage of Figaro with CCM’s Undergraduate Opera (presented Feb. 15-17; all performances currently sold out). After graduation, he will return for his second season as an Apprentice Artist with the Santa Fe Opera, where he will sing the role of Marchese D’Obigny in La Traviata and cover both Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love and The Notary in Der Rosenkavalier.
In recent years, several current and former CCM students have found success in the Eleanor McCollum Competition. Last year, current students Emma Marhefka (MM ’23 and AD ’25) and Gabrielle Turgeon (MM ’24) competed as finalists. Turgeon, a student of Gwendolyn Coleman, also received the Ana Maria Martinez Award that year.
The full 2024 Concert of Arias is available on YouTube.
Lucy Evans
CCM Graduate Assistant, Marketing + Communications
Lucy Evans is an artist diploma student studying Opera-Vocal Performance at CCM. She is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, and was recently an Apprentice Artist with the Santa Fe Opera.
Featured image at the top: Houston Grand Opera.
Related Stories
Sugar overload killing hearts
November 10, 2025
Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.
App turns smartwatch into detector of structural heart disease
November 10, 2025
An app that uses an AI model to read a single-lead ECG from a smartwatch can detect structural heart disease, researchers reported at the 2025 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. Although the technology requires further validation, researchers said it could help improve the identification of patients with heart failure, valvular conditions and left ventricular hypertrophy before they become symptomatic, which could improve the prognosis for people with these conditions.
Duo authentication changes coming January 2026
November 10, 2025
Effective Wednesday, January 21, 2026, Duo authentication via SMS text messages and phone calls will no longer be supported. Switch to the Duo Mobile app on an iOS or Android device (such as a smartphone or tablet). The Duo Mobile app supports Duo Push, which offers the most secure and user-friendly authentication experience.