Bailey Bower, (Washington D.C.) soprano, is a second-year masters student in the Maryland Opera Studio, where she currently studies with Dr. Teri Bickham.
This year, she begins her 2025-2026 season by delving into her first Mozartian role with the Maryland Opera Studio, Sandrina in La Finta Giardiniera. The holiday season sees Bailey in a variety of chamber ensemble concerts around the Washington D.C. area. In December, she joins the University of Maryland Chamber Choir in four performances singing in the chorus in Handel’s Messiah with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. Then, in the spring season, Bailey embarks on a culminating performance of her time with the Maryland Opera Studio, as she sings the role of Diana in Jake Heggie’s 2019 opera, If I Were You.
Previously, Bailey has enjoyed a varied performance background with principal roles in operas including The Fishwife in Ashi Day’s world-premiere of The Fishwife, Maguelonne (Cendrillon), Valencienne (The Merry Widow), La Chauve-Souris (L’Enfant de Sortilèges), Drusilla and Virtú (L’Incoronazione di Poppea), Nuria (Ainadamar), Barbara Cooke (Sondheim on Sondheim), Esmeralda (The Bartered Bride), Frederika (A Little Night Music) and Harry (Albert Herring). As a concert performer, Bailey has been a featured soloist in masterworks such as Fauré’s Requiem, Schubert’s Mass in G, Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël, and Handel’s Messiah. Bailey was the 2024 Audience Choice and Third Prize Winner of the prestigious Vanderlaan Prize Competition through Opera Grand Rapids, and was awarded the Encouragement Award as a National Semi-Finalist for the 2024 Schmidt Vocal Arts Upper Division Competition. In 2024, she received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance, graduating Summa Cum Laude from the University of Houston, and studying under Melanie Sonnenberg.
In her free time outside of singing, Bailey enjoys channeling her creative energy into non-musical hobbies such as cooking, sewing, and fashion. She loves spending time outdoors and meeting new friends wherever she goes.
“Bailey Bower as Sandrina had an especially impressive turn at the beginning of the garden scene in Act II [of La Finta Giardiniera]. Beautiful singing with clear coloratura, Italian diction and a sincere portrayal of her character, which is everything one wants in a Mozart leading lady.”