Houston Grand Opera facts for kids

The Wortham Theater Center

The Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is a famous opera company in Houston, Texas. It started in 1955 and is based at the Wortham Theater Center. This theater is also home to the Houston Ballet. The Houston Grand Opera is the only opera company in the world to win a Tony Award, two Grammy Awards, and three Emmy Awards. A group called the Houston Grand Opera Guild helps support the company.

How HGO Started

In 1955, a man named Walter Herbert and three Houston locals, Elva Lobit, Edward Bing, and Charles Cockrell, created the company. Their first season included two operas: Salome and Madama Butterfly.

David Gockley became the general director in 1972. During his time, the company started asking composers, mostly American ones, to create new operas. David Gockley stayed in his role until 2005.

Anthony Freud took over from Gockley in 2005 and worked until 2011. After he left, Patrick Summers and Perryn Leech led the company together. Patrick Summers became the artistic and music director, and Perryn Leech became the managing director.

In 2017, after Hurricane Harvey caused flooding, the Wortham Theater Center closed. HGO performed in a temporary space called the 'HGO Resilience Theater' at the George R. Brown Convention Center for the 2017–2018 season. Perryn Leech left his role in December 2020.

In June 2021, Khori Dastoor was chosen as the new general director and CEO. She started in January 2022 and is the first woman to hold these important positions at HGO.

The Musicians of HGO

The Houston Grand Opera Orchestra has 49 professional musicians. They play for all HGO performances.

For many years, HGO did not have a music director. In 1971, Charles Rosekrans, who had been an assistant conductor, was named music director. Later music directors included John DeMain and Vjekoslav Šutej. Patrick Summers has been the music director since 1998. In the 2019–20 season, Eun Sun Kim became the principal guest conductor, the first woman to have this role.

The Houston Grand Opera Chorus has been led by Richard Bado since 1988. He used to be a young artist in HGO's training program.

Helping Young Artists Grow

The Butler Studio Program

The Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio is a special program that helps young artists move from their school training to professional careers. It started in 1977. The Studio mainly trains young singers and piano coaches. It also trains conductors for up to three years.

Every year, there is a competition called the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers. This competition helps find talented young artists for the Studio. Many famous singers have come from this program, including Ana María Martínez, Jamie Barton, Joyce DiDonato, and Eric Owens.

In 2023, Sarah and Ernest Butler gave a very large gift to HGO. Because of their support for the arts and future opera stars, the program was renamed the Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio.

Vocal Academy for Young Artists

The HGO Young Artists Vocal Academy started in 2011. It is a one-week program for college students who study vocal music. Students in this program get daily voice lessons and coaching. They also learn about acting, movement, and how to prepare music scores.

HGOco (which you'll read about next) also offers training for high school students.

HGOco: Connecting with the Community

In 2007, HGO started HGOco. This program creates partnerships between the opera company and the community. One of HGOco's main projects is Song of Houston. This project creates new works about the people and groups in Houston, which is a very diverse city.

For example, in 2007, HGOco created The Refuge. The creators interviewed people from different immigrant communities in Houston. The words of some residents were used to write the story. People from these communities also performed in the premiere.

In 2009, HGOco received an award for its Song of Houston project.

By May 2018, HGOco had premiered 22 new works. This included eight short operas about Asian communities in Houston, which were part of a series called East + West. Other recent works include Some Light Emerges, about a Houston humanitarian, and O Columbia, which involved NASA astronauts and scientists.

HGOco also runs other programs:

Houston Grand Opera's Bauer Family High School Voice Studio: A scholarship program for high school students who want to study vocal music in college.
Summer Opera Camps: Camps for students from Pre-K to 12th grade.
Opera to Go!: A touring group that performs short musical works for children and families.

HGO and New Operas

HGO has been asking composers to create and perform new operas since 1974. These include full-length operas for the main stage and shorter works for the community or for children.

First Performances in the World

Full-length Operas

HGO has a long relationship with composer Carlisle Floyd. HGO has asked him to create five operas, including Bilby's Doll (1976) and Cold Sassy Tree (2000). Floyd also helped start the Houston Grand Opera Studio in 1977.

The famous opera Nixon in China by John Adams first appeared at the Wortham Theater Center in 1987. HGO helped create this opera.

Shorter Operas

HGO has asked for and premiered 15 shorter operas made for children and families. These works are about 45 minutes long.

First American Performances

HGO has presented seven operas for the first time in America. One important one was Handel's Rinaldo in 1975. Another was Weinberg's The Passenger in 2014, which is an opera about the Holocaust that was not performed for a long time.

Different Kinds of Opera

In 2010, HGO asked for and premiered the world's first "mariachi opera." It was called Cruzar la Cara de la Luna/To Cross the Face of the Moon. This opera has been performed in Paris and by many other opera companies in the United States.

HGO also helped bring back Porgy and Bess in 1976. This production showed the opera as it was originally meant to be. It won a Tony Award and a Grammy Award.

In 1976, HGO also presented the first fully staged performances of Scott Joplin's Treemonisha, which mixes different musical styles.

HGO and New Ideas

Supertitles for Everyone

In 1984, Houston Grand Opera started using supertitles for all operas not sung in English. Supertitles are like subtitles that appear above the stage, helping the audience understand what the singers are saying. HGO was one of the first opera companies in the United States to do this.

Services for People with Vision Loss

HGO was also one of the first opera companies to offer descriptive services for people who have trouble seeing. Since 1987, they have offered this service for free. It helps patrons enjoy the performance by describing the action on stage.

The HGO Archives

In 1989, HGO became one of the first performing arts groups in Houston to have its own archives and resource center. It is named after Genevieve P. Demme, who was a longtime supporter and historian of HGO.

Outdoor Plazacasts

On November 10, 1995, Houston Grand Opera was the first performing arts company in the United States to show a live performance to an audience in another location. They projected a performance of Rossini's La Cenerentola onto a large screen outside the Wortham Theater Center. People could watch for free from the Ray C. Fish Plaza. HGO called these events "Plazacasts." They held free Plazacasts every year until 2005.

Multimedia Stage

In 1998, HGO showed off its Multimedia Modular Stage. This was a large steel structure with lights, screens for videos, and a big sound system. It was designed for outdoor shows but could be used in other places too. HGO used it for outdoor performances and on tour.

OperaVision Screens

In 2000, HGO added plasma and projection screens in parts of the Wortham Theater Center. This system, called OperaVision, gave close-up views of the stage. It was meant to help people see better from certain seats. OperaVision was stopped in 2005.

Awards HGO Has Won

Emmy Awards

HGO: The Ring Cycle, 2017 (for directing and photography)
Hitting the High Cs, 1998 (for editing)
Nixon in China, 1988 (for Outstanding Musical Program)

Grammy Awards

Nixon in China, 1988 (Best Contemporary Composition)
Porgy and Bess, 1977 (Best Opera Recording)

Other Awards

Porgy and Bess, 1977 (Grand Prix du Disque)
HGOco's Song of Houston initiative, 2009 (Leading Lights Diversity Award)
Porgy and Bess, 1977 (Tony Award for Most Innovative Production of a Revival)

Key Premieres and Recordings

World Premieres

HGO has premiered many new operas, including:

The Seagull (1974)
Bilby's Doll (1976)
Willie Stark (1981)
Nixon in China (1987)
Florencia en el Amazonas (1996)
Little Women (1998)
Cold Sassy Tree (2000)
The Little Prince (2003)
Cruzar la Cara de la Luna / To Cross the Face of the Moon (2010)
It's a Wonderful Life (2016)
The Snowy Day (2021)

American Premieres

HGO has also presented the first American performances of several operas, such as:

Rinaldo (stage premiere, 1975)
The Passenger (2014)

Video and Audio Recordings

Many HGO productions have been recorded for video and audio, including:

Treemonisha (video, 1982)
La Cenerentola (video, 1996)
Little Women (video, 2010)
Porgy and Bess (audio, 1977)
Nixon in China (audio, 1988)
Florencia en el Amazonas (audio, 2002)
It's a Wonderful Life (audio, 2017)

Televised Productions

Several HGO performances have been shown on national television, including:

Willie Stark (1981)
Treemonisha (1986)
Nixon in China (1988)
La Cenerentola (1996)
Little Women (2001)