Opera

HGO Presents a Fiery Carmen at the Wortham

HGO Presents a Fiery Carmen at the Wortham

Iconic Songs, Jealousy and Death Take to the Stage Once Again in HGO's Carmen

Iconic Songs, Jealousy and Death Take to the Stage Once Again in HGO's Carmen

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Opera in the Heights Embarks on an In-Person and Digital 2021-22 Season

By Margaret Downing
Sep 16, 2021

The unlikely friendship between U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia has inspired an opera by Derrick Wang that will be part of the 2021-22 season for Opera in the Heights. In a hybrid season of live performance and continued digital content, OH! is partnering with the...
Get Ready to Access Your Inner, if Somewhat Deadly, Child in HGO's Hansel and Gretel

By Margaret Downing
May 24, 2021

The spectacle and "a little bit of mystery," were what first drew Raven McMillion to opera — or as she describes her initial reaction: "How are these people making these sounds which are almost otherworldly?" Now a Houston Grand Opera Studio Artist, soprano McMillion will have a chance to show...
Here's Your Chance to Sing Along With Opera Stars in Public and No One Will Shush You

By Margaret Downing
May 4, 2021

As a youngster, Michael Mayes would sometimes accompany his father to his job as an electronics technician working on pipelines stretching from Amarillo to South Texas. Along the way, they'd sing bluegrass and country music. "My dad taught me how to sing harmony," Mayes says. On Saturday, May 8, baritone...
From Gershwin to Gospel: Soprano Nicole Heaston in Concert for HGO

By Margaret Downing
Apr 6, 2021

Leaning into the comfort factor, soprano Nicole Heaston decided her concert recital recorded for Houston Grand Opera audiences would be all in English, with an emphasis on American and English composers. "Usually when a person goes to a recital you'll have a list with all of the translations. So you...
Opera in the Heights Brings Lucia and Figaro to White Oak Music Hall

By Margaret Downing
Mar 23, 2021

It's the return of live opera for Opera in the Heights but rather than it playing out in the cozy confines of Lambert Hall, it will be on the lawn at White Oak Music Hall this Wednesday and Thursday. Artistic Director Eiki Isomura will conduct the OH! Orchestra in highlights...
Houston Grand Opera Explores Spanish Music in a Special Premiere

By Margaret Downing
Mar 19, 2021

The music of Spain — and no, get those one-note misconceptions out of your mind — will be showcased in a special program at Houston Grand Opera created by acclaimed soprano Ana María Martínez, who also serves as HGO's Artistic Advisor. Premiering on March 26, Suite Española: Explorando Iberia will feature...
Tenor Jack Swanson Tackles a Recital in Four Languages for Houston Grand Opera

By Margaret Downing
Mar 11, 2021

Tenor Jack Swanson was supposed to be doing Rossini's La Cenerentola in January and February at Houston Grand Opera but those plans like many others were scuttled by COVID-19. Instead he was offered and accepted the chance to film an HGO Digital installment of Live at the Cullen, a selection...
Remembering a Tragedy: Songs For Murdered Sisters at HGO

By Margaret Downing
Feb 17, 2021

On the morning of September 22, 2015, in a rural area of Ontario, Canada, a man went on a killing spree, murdering three former female partners in their separate residences. The tragedy hit close to home for Canadian baritone Joshua Hopkins — one of the women was his sister. As...
Houston Grand Opera's Concert of Arias Goes Virtual

By Margaret Downing
Feb 2, 2021

Imagine you are a young singer, hoping for a career in opera and you've worked hard enough, been good enough and had enough stamina to reach the finalist stage of a competition where you'll be performing before a theater jammed with opera lovers. But now instead of facing a live...
A Celebration of Black Artists in Opera and Song at HGO

By Margaret Downing
Jan 19, 2021

This Friday, Houston Grand Opera will present a special digital concert: Giving Voice 2021: A Celebration of Black Artists in Opera and Song whose co-hosts are the acclaimed tenor Lawrence Brownlee and Houston- favorite, soprano Nicole Heaston. The idea's was Brownlee's, Heaston said, and the international star rounded up herself...
Houston Grand Opera Presents Grammy Award-Winning Mezzo-Soprano Sasha Cooke

By Margaret Downing
Dec 30, 2020

Like many other performers, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke has lost one booking after another in a year overturned by the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the lost work will extend into 2021 as venues and companies try to guess when they'll be open again and cancel some performances to make room for...
HGO Documentary Shows How the Ezra Jack Keats Classic The Snowy Day Was Made Into an Opera

By Margaret Downing
Dec 8, 2020

This December was to have been the Wortham Center premiere of an opera based upon the iconic children's book The Snowy Day that Ezra Jack Keats wrote almost 60 years ago and has been in demand ever since. The story of an African American boy who goes out to explore...
Houston Grand Opera Loses its Managing Director

By Margaret Downing
Nov 23, 2020

Perryn Leech, the Houston Grand Opera managing director who so deftly helped steer the organization during the year it was booted from its Wortham Center home because of Hurricane Harvey floodwaters, will not be staying through to the end of the coronavirus pandemic. In an announcement made by HGO Chairman Allyn...
Jamie Barton Sings Her Way Through a Cooking Lesson as Julia Child in Bon Appétit!

By Margaret Downing
Nov 18, 2020

Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton is channeling her inner Julia Child in Bon Appétit! , a comic opera of just 20 minutes that pairs a typical TV lesson by the world-famous chef with an operatic score. And thanks to COVID-19 and director (and opera bass-baritone) Ryan McKinny, it has all been...
Don Giovanni al fresco at Moores Opera Center

By D. L. Groover
Nov 7, 2020

Sing Hosanna and Jubilate, there is praise to be given. The first live performance of an opera in Houston since COVID-19 locked down every theater in town, which has cursed us for nine months and counting, is happening at the University of Houston Moores Opera Center with a strongly sung...
Houston Grand Opera Cancels Rest of 2020-21 Mainstage Season

By Margaret Downing
Nov 6, 2020

It will now be the fall of 2021 before Houston's opera fans are able to see live performances of Houston Grand Opera. The news, which arrived this week and while not totally unexpected since any number of local venues and arts organizations have been making similar push-back-the-season announcements as the...
Tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz Rebounds From Cancelled HGO Production With an HGO Digital Concert

By Margaret Downing
Nov 2, 2020

Tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz, last seen as the Duke of Mantua in Houston Grand Opera's production of Rigoletto, was all set to return to HGO for the title role in Werther when COVID-19 crashed the season. Instead of being part of the first performance of Jules Massenet's Werther at the Wortham...
Tales from a Safe Distance at Opera in the Heights: An Unbridled Success

By D. L. Groover
Oct 26, 2020

As long as Covid-19 continues to plague us, theater must make do with restrictive safety precautions. While theater streaming has relied mostly on Zoom-style productions with individual panels stitched together, opera has flourished and been a fount of inspiration and creativity. (See Vinkensport at HGO for a primer on how...
Opera Tweets: Vinkensport with Houston Grand Opera

By D. L. Groover
Oct 26, 2020

In this never-ending pandemic with its restrictive social distancing edicts, there is hope. Who would have thought that the most promising spot would be the opera house? I turn your attention and your clicks to Houston Grand Opera's digital production, in association with Austin Opera, of composer David T. Little...
HGO Has Fun With a Comic Opera Based on Vinkensport. Say What?

By Margaret Downing
Oct 14, 2020

Hear the word "Belgian" and where does your mind go to? Belgian ale? Hercule Poirot? Belgian horses? Belgian chocolate? How about the Belgian sport of professional finch calling? No really, there is such a thing. And it provides the basis for Houston Grand Opera's next virtual venture: Vinkensport, or The...