Courtesy: Houston Grand Opera | Photo: Latroya Brooks
Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will stage the fifth annual Giving Voice in partnership with Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church (WABC). The concert will be presented at the historic Third Ward church for the second year running.
This year the Giving Voice series, created in 2019 by American tenor Lawrence Brownlee, will highlight the artistry and contributions of Black women in opera and the Houston community. The event, to be held on International Women’s Day, will also mark Women’s History Month, celebrated throughout March.
Hosted by ABC13 journalist and WABC congregant Melanie Lawson, Giving Voice will feature arias and songs sung by operatic soloists including incredible Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano and HGO honoree Marietta Simpson; soprano Latonia Moore (whose three Grammy Awards include a 2024 win for Best Opera Recording for Terence Blanchard’s Champion); tenor Limmie Pulliam; baritone Justin Austin; and two current members of HGO’s Butler Studio, soprano Renée Richardson and tenor Demetrious Sampson, Jr.
The concert will feature choral works by a mass choir of singers from WABC, the Houston Ebony Opera Guild, and the HGO Chorus, as well as a special performance from Houston’s emerging spiritual ensemble, Voices of Houston. It will also bring the world premiere of four songs by HGO Composer in Residence Joel Thompson, based on poems by U.S. poet laureate emeritus Rita Dove and written for Richardson, who will perform them.
WABC will be honoring its First Lady Audrey Cosby, Founding First Lady Audrey Lawson, First Female Minister of Music Juanita Nash, and several of the Charter Members.
When:
Friday, March 8, 2024, at 7:30 P.M.
Where:
Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church
3826 Wheeler Ave.
Houston, TX 77004
Tickets:
Tickets are free to the public but require a reservation; two tickets per person. For more information and to reserve tickets, visit HGO.org or call the Box Office at (713) 228-6737.
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