Houston Grand Opera General Director and CEO Khori Dastoor believes opera should go where the people are. And in this year's continuation of HGO's Giving Voice series that once again will be Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in a program that includes  Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano and HGO honoree Marietta Simpson.

Other artists featured in arias and songs include Grammy Award-winning soprano Latonia Moore; tenor Limmie Pulliam; baritone Justin Austin; and two current members of HGO’s Butler Studio, soprano Renée Richardson and tenor Demetrious Sampson, Jr.

And it's all free. At press time, the performance was sold out but it can still be accessed by live streaming by going to the HGO website or YouTube.

Giving Voices is the brainchild of American tenor Lawrence Brownlee who wanted a way to showcase the talents of Black artists in opera. This year the program, taking place on International Women's Day, will also honor the contributions of Black women in opera and the community. The showcase will be hosted by ABC 13 journalist and WABC congregant Melanie Lawson.

"It's an incredible artistic partnership. Their combined choirs are so extraordinary.," Dastoor said. "The whole event is inspired to give voice to the people in Houston who contributed to our incredible, rich cultural heritage and it ends up being very joyful and an incredibly moving event.

And Wheeler as a site, besides being historic, has a lot to offer as a performance space, she said.

"One of the other wonderful things about Wheeler is they're set up to live stream all over the world as many mega churches are. So when we're in their house, in their space, we're also seeing this incredible online audience joining us for different reasons. Some are there to give praise, some are there because they're opera lovers."

Why move HGO performances out  from the Wortham Center?

"I approach location I think in a different way, she said. "It's sort of a generational shift.  In the '90s the subscription model was really sustained by the fact  that people cared very much where they sat in the theater. Because the social couples would sit next to them. That was sort of the ritual of the event.  That tradition really has excluded communities who haven't participated in that social hierarchy for a very long time and found community in gathering other places."

It's not that HGO never went out into the community before because it did. But with the arrival of Dastoor in 2021, the pace of those outreaches has accelerated.

"HGO is evolving our relationship with space. Because the theater itself isn't linked to the mission.  Our mission is to create experiences for Houstonians interacting with classically trained human voices.  That doesn't necessarily happen only in one place anymore. It happens online, It happens in stadiums. It happens in community centers. As a result last season HGO performed in 42 venues [they are at the Houston Rodeo this week]. "

By going out into the community, she said, they also hope to yes, bring some of those audiences into the Wortham itself. "It's already happening," she said, pointing to Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church sending 50 people to support Reggie [American baritone Reginald Smith, Jr, who played the title role in Falstaff].

"When you open dialog and partnership with other organizations and they invite you into their spaces and you're able to truly partner in that way instead of sort of a colonial model, the organizations change and evolve.

"I think you'll see more of this in the future, not less."

This isn't just HGO dropping in and running the show, Dastoor said.

"It’s truly a collaboration. First of all we’re in their house. Everything has to line up together. Last year was an experiment.  The program itself is a conversation between the leadership of the church. She pointed out that while spiritual, this is not a religious service. We're there to uplift and support one another and we find that doing music together is a really good way to do that. It's a concert. It's a musical event."

The concert also will feature choral works by a mass choir of singers from WABC, the Houston Ebony Opera Guild, and HGO, as well as a special performance from Houston’s emerging spiritual ensemble, Voices of Houston. It will also bring the world premiere of songs by HGO Composer in Residence Joel Thompson. WABC will be honoring the First Ladies of the Church & Women’s Group from its Founding Congregation.

Dastoor said this year the artists let them know what they'd like to sing and then it was a collaboration between Wheeler leadership and HGO. for what they thought would serve both audiences.

The program is scheduled for Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, 3826 Wheeler, It is sold out but will be streaming on the HGO Facebook and YouTube pages.  For more information, visit HGO.org or call the Box Office at 713-228-6737.