Texas Vocal Arts Festival
Celebrating artistic excellence, education, and community impact.
About the Festival
The Texas Vocal Arts Festival celebrates the joy of singing, encourages artistic growth, and creates meaningful live performance opportunities for singers of all ages and backgrounds. Participants receive educational feedback from experienced voice professionals while joining a welcoming community of singers, teachers, families, and music lovers.
Why Participate?
Whether a student is preparing for auditions, studying privately, singing in school or church, or simply loves to sing, TVAF offers a clear and encouraging path to perform, learn, and grow.
Professional Feedback
Every contestant receives written comments designed to support future artistic and vocal growth.
Performance Experience
Singers gain confidence through a real performance experience in a supportive festival environment.
Awards and Gala Opportunities
Outstanding participants may receive prizes, certificates, special awards, and invitation to the Gala Showcase.
Who Can Join?
Participants compete according to their age on July 25, 2026.
Junior A
Junior B
Teen
Adult
Ensemble and Choir
Choose Your Performance Style
The Festival welcomes classical, contemporary, ensemble, and choir performances in all languages.
Classical Voice
Art songs, opera, operetta, folk songs, and classical vocal literature. Classical repertoire may be performed in an appropriate key for the singer's voice.
Contemporary Voice
Musical theatre, pop, jazz, and contemporary commercial music. Edited or performance-cut versions are permitted when musically coherent.
Ensemble and Choir
Duets, trios, vocal ensembles, and choirs. Directors or teachers may register multiple ensembles.
Important Dates
Registration Opens
Registration is now open.
Registration Deadline
All entries must be submitted.
Music Submission
Final accompaniment files are due.
Competition Day
HanOpera Music Academy.
Gala Showcase
Courtyard Theater, Downtown Plano.
Awards and Prizes
The Texas Vocal Arts Festival recognizes artistic achievement, growth, stage presence, and meaningful participation with over $3,000 in awards and prizes, certificates, special awards, and performance opportunities.
First Prize
Award recognition and certificate
Second Prize
Award recognition and certificate
Third Prize
Award recognition and certificate
Special Awards
Outstanding Young Artist, Stage Presence, Classical, Contemporary, and more
Audience Favorite
Most Popular Singer's Award voted by the audience
Meet Our Distinguished Judges
Participants receive educational feedback from experienced performers, voice pedagogues, university faculty members, and industry professionals committed to artistic excellence and singer development.
Stephen Morscheck
Stephen Morscheck is an internationally acclaimed bass-baritone and Professor of Voice at the University of North Texas College of Music. He has performed with the Metropolitan Opera and leading opera companies and orchestras throughout North America and Europe.
Read Full Biography
Bass-baritone Stephen Morscheck maintains an active international performing career. Recent engagements include Raphael and Adam in Haydn's The Creation with the South Dakota Symphony, the title role in Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Champaign Urbana Symphony Orchestra, and the bass solos in Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the South Dakota Symphony. He has also appeared as Jesus in Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the St. Louis Bach Society and in Bach's St. John Passion with Incarnatus Choral Ensemble in Dallas.
Mr. Morscheck has performed with numerous distinguished orchestras and organizations, including the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Bach Society of St. Louis, Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, Costa Rica Philharmonic, Dallas Bach Society, Music of the Baroque in Chicago, Opera Naples, Pacific Symphony, Roanoke Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, and Rochester Chamber Philharmonic.
His operatic appearances include the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Dallas Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Washington National Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Florida Grand Opera, Arizona Opera, Atlanta Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Colorado, Opera Carolina, Teatro Real Madrid, Liceu Opera Barcelona, Bonn Opera, Opéra de Montréal, and Spoleto Festival USA.
Mr. Morscheck graduated from Wheaton College and earned advanced degrees from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. In 1995, he received the prestigious Richard Tucker Career Grant. He currently serves as Professor of Voice at the University of North Texas College of Music.
Dr. Daniel Lickteig
Dr. Daniel Lickteig is an accomplished operatic baritone, voice educator, and arts leader who has performed with leading American opera companies and co-founded OperaOn75.
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Daniel Lickteig, baritone, has performed with leading American opera companies including Opera Philadelphia, Sarasota Opera, Cleveland Opera, and Utah Festival Opera. His operatic repertoire spans Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Rossini’s Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Verdi’s Rigoletto, Scarpia in Tosca, Marcello in La Bohème, Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana, and Tonio in Pagliacci. Recent appearances include Escamillo in Carmen with the Sherman Symphony and the bass solo in Mozart’s Requiem with the Allen Symphony Chorus.
A committed recitalist and chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Dolce Suono Ensemble in Philadelphia in performances of Charles Ives’ Sunrise and the premiere of Jeremy Gill’s Dreamland. He recently returned to Dreamland in a South Dakota New Music concert and performed songs by physicist-composer Doug Hofstadter at the National Music Museum, as well as narrator in Copland’s Lincoln Portrait with the USD Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Lickteig maintains a private voice studio in Texas and is co-founder and president of OperaOn75, an opera company serving the Northeast DFW area. He previously served on the voice faculties of the University of South Dakota and Emory University, as well as teaching voice at the University of North Texas. His students have earned NATS awards and placements in major young-artist programs. He holds degrees from Temple University and the University of North Texas, where his doctoral research focused on Loeffler’s Rapsodies pour voix, clarinette, alto, et piano.
Susan Hanlon Ferrer
Susan Hanlon Ferrer is a commercial voice specialist, educator, and performer with over 20 years of private teaching experience and 10 years as Adjunct Professor of Commercial Voice.
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Susan Hanlon Ferrer has built a career around setting singers up for the spotlight and helping them gain freedom and consistency in their singing. She believes that every singer deserves to be appreciated for who they are and what they bring to the art form, and strives to create a space of belonging for all voices in her thriving private voice studio.
With 20 years of private teaching and 10 years of experience as Adjunct Professor of Commercial Voice, Susan has helped singers prepare for recording sessions, performances, international competitions, tours, television/film and stage appearances. She has helped guide numerous singers through the college audition process. Her studio alumni have been invited into prestigious performance programs like University of Miami, Cal Arts, NYU, Berklee, UCLA, TCU, Boston Conservatory and many more.
Susan earned her M.A. in Music at The University of North Texas where her graduate studies centered around vocal pedagogy and commercial vocal techniques. She has released two jazz albums under the Armored Records Label and continues to perform locally.
Dr. Yixuan Han
Dr. Yixuan Han is a vocal pedagogue, opera soprano, and arts leader with more than 21 years of experience in vocal performance and music education.
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Dr. Yixuan Han is a vocal pedagogue, opera soprano, and arts leader with more than 21 years of experience in vocal performance and music education across China and the United States.
A former university professor of Vocal Performance in China, Dr. Han has dedicated her career to training singers of all ages, from young children to adult professionals. Her students have earned awards in regional, national, and international competitions and have been admitted to leading universities and conservatories, including Harvard University, Yale University, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, the Peabody Institute, UNT, and UT Austin.
As a performer, Dr. Han has appeared in opera productions in both China and the United States and was recognized in prestigious national vocal competitions, including the CCTV Young Singers Television Competition and the China Golden Bell Awards Competition. She was also the winner of the 2019 UNT Concerto Competition.
Dr. Han is the Founder of HanOpera Music Academy and Founder and Artistic Director of the International Association of Music & Arts (IAMA). She is also the creator of the Yixuan Han Chinese IPA System, an innovative framework that promotes the study and performance of Chinese vocal repertoire worldwide.
Gala Showcase
The Gala Showcase Concert and Awards Ceremony will take place on Friday, July 31, 2026, from 7:00–9:00 PM at Courtyard Theater in Downtown Plano. Selected performers may be invited to perform based on artistic excellence, stage presence, program balance, repertoire variety, audience engagement, and overall concert effectiveness.
Register for Texas Vocal Arts Festival 2026
Choose the registration option that matches your entry. Registration is not complete until payment has been received.
Solo Registration
For individual singers entering Classical Voice or Contemporary Voice. Contestants may enter multiple categories with a separate registration and fee for each entry.
Start Solo RegistrationEnsemble and Choir Registration
For duets, trios, vocal ensembles, and choirs. Ensembles with more than 10 performers add $5 per additional performer.
Start Ensemble RegistrationFrequently Asked Questions
Is this competition only for advanced singers?
No. The Festival welcomes singers of all experience levels and is designed to be educational first and competitive second.
Do solo contestants have to perform from memory?
Yes. All solo contestants must perform from memory. Ensemble and choir entries are exempt from this requirement.
May I enter more than one category?
Yes. Contestants may enter multiple categories. Each category requires a separate registration and entry fee.
May I use the same song for multiple categories?
No. The same repertoire selection may not be used for multiple category entries by the same contestant.
May I perform in a transposed key?
Yes. Classical repertoire may be performed in the original key or in an appropriate transposed key for the contestant's voice.
Are shortened Musical Theatre cuts permitted?
Yes. Edited or performance-cut versions are permitted if the selection remains musically and artistically coherent.
Will participants receive comments?
Yes. All contestants will receive written comments and educational feedback from adjudicators.
Are registration fees refundable?
No. All registration fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.
Will all winners perform in the Gala Showcase Concert?
Not necessarily. The Gala Showcase is an invitation-only performance event based on artistic excellence, program balance, repertoire variety, and overall concert effectiveness.
What should participants wear?
Contestants should wear appropriate concert or performance attire. Gala performers are expected to wear formal concert attire.
Please review the full Festival policies before registering.
The full rules include performance requirements, accompaniment policies, memorization rules, media release, copyright responsibilities, refund policy, and Festival Committee authority.
View Full Rules and Policies