Houston Grand Opera Invites the Public to a Series of Community Events

Houston Grand Opera invites you to attend a series of community events ahead of the world premiere of Intelligence on Monday, September 18, at 5 p.m., Monday, September 25, at 6:30 p.m., and Sunday, October 1, at 1 p.m.

To RSVP to one or more of these events, please reply to this email by Monday, September 11.

The Art of Composer Jake Heggie (in partnership with the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University)

Monday, Sept. 18, 5-6:30 p.m.

Location: Duncan Recital Hall in Alice Pratt Brown Hall, Shepherd School of Music at Rice University

Parking: Paid parking at university’s West Lot 2, available via entrance No. 18 from Rice Blvd.

You are invited to get an exclusive look inside the mind of renowned composer Jake Heggie ahead of the HGO-commissioned world premiere opera Intelligence.

On the historic occasion of HGO’s world premiere of Intelligence and The Metropolitan Opera’s opening of its season with Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, the most widely performed new opera of the last 20 years, HGO General Director and CEO Khori Dastoor and Rice University Shepherd School of Music Professor of Opera and Director of Opera Studies Joshua Winograde sit down with Heggie to discuss the composer’s process and how his perspectives on opera development and composition have changed over his three-decade career. The event will last for 90 minutes. Suggested donation, $25. All proceeds benefit HGO Community & Learning programs.

Let the Truth Be Told – A Conversation on Intelligence (in partnership with the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum)

Monday, Sept. 25, 6:30-8 p.m.

Location: Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, 3816 Caroline St.

Parking: Museum parking lot and street parking

You are invited to a special panel featuring arts and community leaders ahead of the HGO-commissioned world premiere opera Intelligence.

In a conversation moderated by Opera America equity consultant Quodesia Johnson and featuring a panel including librettist Gene Scheer, director/choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, BSNM Director of Exhibitions Cale Carter, and Fifth Ward Development Corp. Director of Arts and Culture/Urban Souls Dance Company Artistic Director Harrison Guy, HGO explores what it means to question existing narratives, uncover the truth, and discern the authenticity of stories we hear, those we don’t hear, and those that are suppressed. The event will last for 90 minutes. $25.

Dance Masterclass & Conversation with Urban Bush Women (in partnership with Houston Ballet)

Sunday, Oct. 1, 1 p.m. (followed by a 2:30-3 p.m. Q&A session)

Location: Margaret Alkek Williams Center for Dance, 601 Preston St.

Parking: Street parking and multiple nearby garages

You are invited to a special masterclass ahead of the HGO-commissioned world premiere opera Intelligence.

Join HGO and Houston Ballet for a special afternoon of dance in honor of the HGO world premiere of Intelligence featuring members of Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s revolutionary modern dance company, Urban Bush Women. An advanced dance masterclass will be led by Zollar—Intelligence co-creator and director/choreographer, as well as MacArthur Foundation and Gish Prize awardee—while another masterclass will be led by Intelligence associate choreographer Vincent Thomas. Please note: space for dancers is limited; the event is also open to observers for the class and Q&A. The event will last for 90 minutes. $50 for dancers; $25 for observers.

For more information on Intelligence and HGO’s entire 2023-24 season, click here or contact HGO media team member Mireya Reyna at mireya@elmorepr.com or 713-524-0661.

Background on Intelligence

For the first time in its history, HGO will open its 2023-24 season with a world premiere: the company-commissioned opera Intelligence, created by acclaimed composer Jake Heggie, librettist Gene Scheer, and director/choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, 2021 MacArthur Fellow and founder of the Urban Bush Women, the renowned Brooklyn dance company that centers on the perspective of Black women.

The Civil War is raging, and the country is burning. Men are slaughtering each other on the battlefield, but it is two women who possess the deadliest weapon of all: intelligence, made more powerful by its invisibility. Who would guess that Elizabeth Van Lew, from a prominent Confederate family, is running a secret pro-Union spy ring? That Mary Jane Bowser, born into slavery in the Van Lew household, has been taught to read and write? The HGO-commissioned world-premiere opera Intelligence, inspired by the little-known true story of these two unlikely spies, unfolds as Elizabeth sends Mary Jane to live in the Confederate White House. As Mary Jane uncovers the secrets of the Confederacy to share with Union military commanders, she also uncovers the secrets of her own history and identity. Shared through a fusion of music, words, and dance, HGO’s production of this new American epic features eight dancers from UBW and a sensational cast led by mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as Elizabeth, with soprano Janai Brugger as the brilliant Mary Jane and mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges as the mysterious Lucinda, both making their anticipated company debuts. Acclaimed conductor Kwamé Ryan takes the podium for his HGO debut.