Houston Grand Opera Association, Inc.

The internationally acclaimed Houston Grand Opera Studio program trains young artists with potential for professional careers in opera. Along with the HGO Orchestra and Chorus, it is one of the 3 artistic pillars of the company. Founded in 1977 by former General Director David Gockley and composer Carlisle Floyd, the HGO Studio remains one of the most prestigious artist-in-training programs worldwide and has served as a model for similar programs in the U.S. and internationally. The HGO Studio is led by Brian Speck, Director of HGO Studio, and Richard Bado, HGO’s Director of Artistic Operations. HGO Studio training encompasses not only individual vocal instruction but also training in all other aspects of a performance-based career: foreign languages, dramatic studies, stage combat, and diction, as well as classes on stress management, public relations, audition techniques, taxes and personal finance, and artist representation. There are a variety of performance opportunities in mainstage productions and recitals.

Since it was launched in 2007, HGOco, the company’s arts education and community collaboration initiative, has reached over 2 million people through artistic programs and performances. Highlights include:Opera to Go! – a touring ensemble that reaches over 50,000 students every year with family-friendly opera performances.Storybook Opera – opera-themed stories performed by singing storytellers at libraries, elementary schools, and community venues.Opera Camps – a summer program which introduces children to storytelling through words and music as they create and perform their own operas.Opera Immersion Residencies – Teaching artists work with schools to develop and implement original lesson that use opera to enrich instruction in core subject areas.The Bauer Family High School Voice Studio – a year-long, tuition-free program preparing high school seniors for college-level study in vocal performance with private voice lessons, masterclasses, and professional guidance.

Song of Houston is a groundbreaking program that commissions new operas to tell the unique stories of those who call Houston home. In the 2020-21 season, HGO will be premiering a new chamber opera called Turn and Burn: A Rodeo Opera. In Turn and Burn, small-town barrel racing champion Shayla Taylor and ambitious executive Jamie Hernandez aim for a big win at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. When an accident threatens Shayla’s career-defining race, the women discover each other’s strength in adversity. Set in a colorful world of bucking broncs and carnival rides, composer Nell Shaw Cohen and librettist Megan Cohen’s original story informed by interviews with rodeo athletes offers a feminist perspective on contemporary rodeo culture. 

HGO believes that price should never be the barrier for any person seeking to experience world-class performing arts. Since NEXUS was launched in 2007, the initiative has allowed more than 275,000 people to experience HGO’s world-class art for free or nominal ticket prices. The NEXUS Initiative is comprised of three components: significantly underwritten NEXUS subscriptions and single tickets, free public NEXUS performances at Miller Outdoor Theatre and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, and discounted tickets for the Student Performance Series.For the 2020-21 season, HGO will present The Sound of Music at Miller Outdoor Theatre and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands in May 2021. The Student Performance Series brings over 6,000 students to the Wortham Theater Center each season to experience the thrill of live opera. In the 2020-21 season, the Series will consist of two Student Matinee performances of The Sound of Music for grades 4–8.