Born: June 14, 1925 - Proctor, Vermont, USA
Died: December 29, 2015 - Salisbury, North Carolina, USA |
The music director and recorder soloist, Dale Strohe Higbee, graduated with Bachelor Arts degree in 1949 from Harvard College, where he played flute in a Bach cantata group organized and conducted by Thomas Dunn. He earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1954. He studied flute with Georges Laurent, Arthur Lora and Marcel Moyse, and recorder with Carl Dolmetsch.
Dale Higbee pursued his career for 34 years with 33 years of service at the VA Hospital in Salisbury. Dr. Higbee served in the Army in France during World War II in the 314th regiment, 79th division. He earned the Combat Infantry badge and the Purple Heart.
Dale Higbee's great passion was for music. He was a free-lance flutist and recorder player for many years, played in many orchestras and chamber music groups, published many articles on the recorder, and was widely recognized as an authority on the history of the instrument. He was the founder and Music Director of Carolina Baroque from 1988 to 2011. He was a Governor of the Dolmetsch Foundation, An International Society for Early Music and Instruments, and was national board member of both the American Musical Instrument Society and the American Recorder Society. He was a member of The Galpin Society, a member of The American Bach Society and a life member of The American Handel Society. The Dale Higbee Collection of 18th century recorders and 18th & 19th century flutes and flageolets can be seen at the National Music Museum, The University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, one of the world's greatest museums of historic musical instruments. He performed on recorders pitched at c', d', f', g' a', b flat', c", d", and f" made by Jean-Luc Boudreau, Adrian Brown, Dolmetsch, von Huene, Alec Loretto, Bob Marvin, Fred Morgan, Tom Prescott and John Willman. He was is a life member of the Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society, The harpsichord used in the Carolina Baroque’s concerts is a single-manual instrument made by Richard Kingston.
Dale Strohe Higbee died on December 29, 2015 in Salisbury, North Carolina. He is survived by one child, Catherine H. Mize and her husband, David of Statesville; and several nieces and nephews in New England. |