HGO's New Season to Feature Six Operas, Including a Historic American Masterpiece; the Company Premiere of a Puccini Classic; a New Staging of a Celebrated Modern Work; an Anticipated American Premiere Production; and More Audience Favorites
The new season to feature cherished American opera Porgy and Bess; the HGO premiere of Puccini's Il trittico; a revised version of Kevin Puts's Silent Night; family-friendly favorite Hansel and Gretel; the American premiere of director Robert Wilson's Messiah; and adored comedy The Barber of Seville
Throughout 2025-26 season, HGO to celebrate Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers and his 25-plus years with the company
HOUSTON, TX / ACCESS Newswire / March 19, 2025 / Houston Grand Opera?(HGO) is proud to announce its 2025-26 season, featuring the American opera that launched HGO as a trailblazer, the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess; the company's first-ever presentation of Puccini's masterful trio of one-act operas, Il trittico; a revised version of Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell's Pulitzer Prize-winning 2011 opera Silent Night; Humperdinck's enchanting Hansel and Gretel; HGO's first-ever Messiah, composed by Handel and arranged by Mozart, in an American premiere production by Robert Wilson; and Rossini's crowd-pleasing The Barber of Seville. Subscriptions for the 2025-26 season are available to audiences starting today at HGO.org.
Throughout the 2025-26 season, HGO will be celebrating its beloved artistic and music director, Patrick Summers, who in May 2026 will transition to a new role: music director emeritus and holder of the Robert and Jane Cizik Music Director Emeritus Chair. During more than 25 years as a member of company leadership, Summers has had a profound impact upon HGO, overseeing a host of world premiere works, fostering the careers of major artists, and building the HGO Orchestra into one of the industry's leading ensembles. The season will be bookended by two productions featuring Maestro Summers at the podium: Puccini's Il trittico in fall 2025 and Handel/Mozart's Messiah in spring 2026.
"We chose the theme of HGO's 2025-26 season-the light we hold-not only to honor the light we hold for our art form, and the great composers and storytellers through the centuries, but for all the artists and creatives who bring light into our world," says HGO General Director and CEO Khori Dastoor. "As the capstone to Patrick Summers's remarkable tenure at HGO, we plan to celebrate with a year full of monumental artworks, brilliant new productions, and performances from opera's leading stars. From seminal American works Porgy and Bess and Silent Night, to sublime operas from the repertoire Hansel and Gretel and The Barber of Seville, to bucket-list pieces Il trittico and Messiah, we are planning a blockbuster season for our city."
"Every season at HGO presents big families of constellated ideas, all of which come together through the enormous efforts and expertise of many people over many years, and in which I have played a role for nearly three decades," says Summers. "My final season as Artistic Director is of enormous meaning to me, particularly the opportunity to conduct what is to my mind the single greatest Italian opera, Puccini's?Trittico,?and to close my tenure with Mozart's loving homage to Handel, his orchestration of one of the greatest works in the canon,?Messiah,?in Robert Wilson's joyous, eccentric, baffling, wonderful, dizzying, and moving production."
HGO will open the 2025-26 season with the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, marking 50 years since the company first presented the "folk opera," restoring it to its creators' full original vision in a landmark production that went on to Broadway and earned HGO both a Tony and a Grammy. Now, this American classic returns to Houston, presented in an acclaimed production from Washington National Opera and director Francesca Zambello that will be featured in a special nine-show run, with tickets to select performances available starting now, and tickets to all performances available starting May 22.
With a moving score that seamlessly blends jazz, spirituals, blues, and classical music, Porgy and Bess is set in the Jim Crow South, in the fictional Charleston slum of Catfish Row, where Porgy, a disabled beggar, and Bess, a woman struggling with addiction, fall in love. Their unforgettable story will be led by a cast of opera giants, including bass-baritone Michael Sumuel as Porgy, soprano Angel Blue as Bess, baritone Blake Denson as Crown, and soprano Latonia Moore in her HGO mainstage debut as Serena. Maestro James Gaffigan, the General Music Director of Komische Oper Berlin and Music Director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, conducts.
Also part of HGO's fall repertoire is the company's first-ever full presentation of Il trittico, Puccini's triptych of one-act operas, in a production created by sought-after director James Robinson. The evening will start with Il tabarro, the tragic tale of a barge captain, his young wife, and her lover, set on the Seine; followed by Suor Angelica, the story of a nun with a haunted past that culminates in heartrending redemption, reset by Robinson in a children's hospital; and close with Gianni Schicchi, the tale of a cunning conman who turns a family's greed into a delightful farce.
This production boasts a powerhouse lead cast that will take on multiple roles across the three one-acts, including soprano Corinne Winters, a 2024 Gramophone Award winner, in her company debut, joined by three adored Houston favorites: mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, bass-baritone Ryan McKinny, and tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz. Maestro Patrick Summers conducts.
The company's winter repertoire will launch with the Houston premiere of composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell's Pulitzer Prize-winning 2011 opera Silent Night, inspired by the 2005 film Joyeux Noël. Presented in a revised version co-produced by HGO and the Metropolitan Opera, the opera captures the real-life Christmas truce of 1914, during World War I, when one soldier's defiant caroling sparks a ceasefire, leading to an unforgettable night of shared humanity, soccer, and song.
Directed by James Robinson, this trilingual production features a superlative lead cast that includes tenor Duke Kim as German opera singer/soldier Nikolaus Sprink with soprano Sylvia D'Eramo as his diva lover, Anna Sørensen, joined by bass-baritone Ryan McKinny, baritone Iurii Samoilov, and baritone Thomas Glass as the story's three lieutenants. Dynamic young conductor Kensho Watanabe makes his company debut at the podium.
Next, HGO presents Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, adapted from the Brothers Grimm tale and featuring a whimsical score full of German nursery songs. Created in association with London's Royal Ballet and Opera and San Francisco Opera, the production will be brought to life by director/designer Antony McDonald in his company debut. The family-friendly story unfolds in a German romantic land full of dirndls, Alpine hats, and misty clouds, where the titular protagonists undertake a dangerous journey to the realm where the Witch reigns from her house of cake.
Mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke as Hansel and soprano Mané Galoyan as Gretel lead the opera's stellar cast, with mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton making a star turn as the Witch who, outsmarted by the children, takes a dive into a cauldron of bubbling chocolate. Andreas Ottensamer, artistic director of the Bürgenstock Festival in Switzerland, makes his anticipated HGO debut at the podium.
Spring will bring director Robert Wilson's mesmerizing vision of the beloved Messiah, composed by Handel and arranged by Mozart. The director's production will be staged in the United States for the first time at HGO, in the first performances of the composer's majestic oratorio in company history. In Wilson's hands, the Messiah-a narrative-free meditation on Jesus's role as the Christian messiah, originally conceived for concert halls-transforms into a surreal and mesmerizing theatrical spectacle reminiscent of Disney's Fantasia.
This anticipated production will showcase the renowned HGO Chorus alongside an exceptional cast: soprano Ying Fang in her company debut, countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, tenor Benjamin Bliss, and bass-baritone Nicholas Newton, joined by the dancer Alexis Fousekis. Maestro Patrick Summers takes the podium for this can't-miss HGO event, a co-production of the?Salzburg?Mozarteum Foundation, the Salzburg Festival, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and the Grand Théâtre de Genève.
HGO will close the mainstage season with a fan favorite, Rossini's uproarious masterpiece The Barber of Seville. A co-production?of the Canadian Opera Company, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Opera Australia, this delightful staging is the creation of director Joan Font, returning to Houston following the triumph of his acclaimed Cinderella.
An outstanding cast headlines the production, with baritone Will Liverman in his HGO mainstage debut as the charming barber Figaro, who puts his clever tricks to use in the name of true love. He is joined by tenor Jack Swanson as the dashing Count Almaviva; mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack in her company debut as the Count's love, the mysterious beauty Rosina; baritone Alessandro Corbelli as Rosina's pompous old guardian, Dr. Bartolo; and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni as her music teacher, Don Basilio. Gemma New, principal conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, makes her company debut at the podium.
The 2025-26 Season Beyond the Mainstage
In addition to HGO's mainstage season, the company will present a host of programs to engage students, families, and arts lovers throughout the Houston community.
On March 13 and 15, 2026, HGO will stage a special production inside the Wortham Theater Center's intimate Cullen Theater for the first time since 2022. In celebration of the centennial of the birth of Carlisle Floyd, the composer known as the dean of American opera, the company's Butler Studio will present the evocative opera Of Mice and Men in a staging co-produced by leading partners HGO and Des Moines Metro Opera, in addition to Florida State University and Lyric Opera of Kansas City.
Based on John Steinbeck's 1937 novella of the same name, Floyd's acclaimed 1970 opera shares the poignant tale of two laborers, George and Lennie, seeking work during the Great Depression. The friends dream of a better life, but their story-driven by the composer's haunting, folk-and-blues-infused score-ends in tragedy. Directed by Kristine McIntyre, the production will feature a cast of artists from the 2025-26 class of the Butler Studio, led by tenor Demetrious Sampson, Jr. as Lennie and bass-baritone Sam Dhobhany as George. Tickets for Of Mice and Men must be purchased separately from a season subscription and will become available when all single tickets are released for sale on August 6, with subscribers enjoying first access.
"The great composer, librettist, and educator Carlisle Floyd had a close relationship with HGO for close to half a century," says Dastoor. "He founded our Butler Studio program with then-General Director David Gockley in 1977, and five of his operas received their world premieres in Houston. It is impossible to separate HGO's legacy from that of the man whose creative vision gave rise to a new American tradition. I can think of no better way to honor Carlisle's historic contributions to this company, and to our art form, than to celebrate his 100th birthday with this powerful new production, performed by a cast of artists from the same Butler Studio he was a part of until the very end of his life."
On February 14, 2026, the company will present its second annual Family Day, following the success of its first sold-out event during the 2024-25 season. HGO Family Day Presents Hansel and Gretel will feature a 90-minute, English-language, relaxed-environment performance of the opera the company is presenting as part of its winter repertoire. Directed by beloved mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, an HGO favorite, this show is perfect for young guests, complete with kid-centric lobby activities. Subscribers enjoy presale access to tickets, which will go on sale on July 1.
HGO's 2025-26 mainstage season will include two special performances that will allow Houston-area students to experience the magic of opera during a night out at the Wortham Theater Center. Hansel and Gretel will be presented in a special English-language Student Matinee performance on February 12, 2026, and The Barber of Seville will be presented in a High School Night performance on April 28, 2026.
On February 6, 2026, HGO will host the Concert of Arias, the live final round of the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, performed by a small group of talented emerging artists, accompanied by the renowned HGO Orchestra with Maestro Patrick Summers conducting. These finalists, identified following an extensive international search, will vie for cash prizes-and perhaps an invitation to join the Butler Studio-as they each perform two arias from the repertoire. Subscribers receive first access to tickets.
In winter 2026, HGO will present the seventh annual Giving Voice-an adored company tradition created by internationally acclaimed tenor Lawrence Brownlee, showcasing the profound artistry and historic contributions made by Black artists in opera and song. Subscribers receive premier access to register.
From March through May of 2026, HGO will present Mary Carol Warwick and Kate Pogue's The Velveteen Rabbit for the company's touring Opera to Go! program. Based on the beloved children's book about a boy's sweet stuffed animal who dreams of being real, the popular, company-commissioned opera made its world premiere in 2004. Students and families will enjoy the 45-minute performance at schools and other community spaces throughout the region.
This season, HGO is featuring a variety of ticket offerings, from flexible three-opera packages to the full six-opera season. Full subscriptions start as low as $90. Subscriptions and packages for the 2025-26 season are now available at?HGO.org. The deadline for subscription renewal is May 22, 2025.
Subscribers to the company's 2025-26 season will receive a host of benefits, including a 25 percent discount on additional tickets, free tickets to the company's popular Butler Studio Showcase, a monthly subscriber newsletter, and access to Opera America's Opera Passport program, which offers discounted tickets to performances from Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, and many more companies across the country.
Single tickets to select performances (November 9, 11, 13, 15) of Porgy and Bess are available now, with tickets to Family Day (February 14) available starting July 1 and tickets to all mainstage performances released later this summer.
As part of HGO's mission to invite all Houstonians to experience the operatic art form, the company continues to serve audiences through its popular Opening Nights for Young Professionals (ONYP) discounted subscription series; tickets starting at $25 for all productions; discounted single tickets for veterans and active military members, available for 10% off all season; and $20 student tickets to mainstage productions, accessible one month prior to the opening of every performance with a valid student ID.
HGO's mainstage season will comprise?35 mainstage, 1 family, and 2 student performances?of six productions at the Wortham Theater Center's Brown Theater; the company will also present 2 special performances of one production (Of Mice and Men) in the Cullen Theater, available for single-ticket purchase only, with subscribers receiving first access. Additional details of the upcoming HGO productions are provided below, and more information is available at the company's website:?HGO.org. All repertoire, dates, pricing, productions, and casting are subject to change without notice.?
PHOTOS: Photos that can be used with coverage of the HGO 2025-26 season announcement news can be found here. All are courtesy of Houston Grand Opera unless otherwise indicated.
About Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is one of the largest, most innovative, and most highly acclaimed opera companies in the United States. General Director and CEO Khori Dastoor assumed leadership of the organization and responsibility for its strategic vision in 2021. HGO was the only American finalist for Opera Company of the Year in the 2019 International Opera Awards, and the only American company to be nominated twice. In fulfilling its missionto advance the operatic art, to serve the Houston community, and to be a global leader in the future of opera, HGO has led the field in commissioning and producing new works (76 world premieres to date) and in training and nurturing promising young artists and administrators. The company contributes to the cultural enrichment of Houston and the nation through a diverse and innovative program of performances, community events, and education projects that reaches the widest possible public. HGO's pioneering Community and Learning initiative has served as a model for other arts organizations.?The company invites all Houstonians to experience superlative opera without the barrier of price through discounted single tickets and subscriptions, subsidized student performances, and free productions.??
HGO has toured extensively and has won a Tony, two Grammy awards, and three Emmy awards. It is the only opera company to win all three honors.??
Media Contact: Mireya Reyna, Elmore PR, 832-459-7761; Mireya@ElmorePR.com
Media Contact: Catherine Matusow, Houston Grand Opera, 713-546-0293; CMatusow@HGO.org
Houston Grand Opera: 2025-26 Season
* Company mainstage debut
# Alternate cast
† Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio artist
‡ Former Butler Studio artist
(Butler Studio artist designations apply to the program's 2025-26 class; HGO's announcement of the new season's members can be found here.)
The Gershwins®: Porgy and Bess®
By George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, and Ira Gershwin
Performance dates: October 24, 26m, November 1, 5, 7, 9m, 11, 13, 15, 2025
Sung in English with projected English text
CAST:
Porgy
Michael Sumuel ‡
Bess
Angel Blue
Crown
Blake Denson ‡
Sportin' Life
Demetrious Sampson, Jr. †
Serena
Latonia Moore *
Clara
Raven McMillon ‡
Jake
Justin Austin *
Maria
La'Shelle Q. Allen *
Lawyer Frazier
Donnie Ray Albert
CREATIVE TEAM:
Conductor
James Gaffigan
Richard Bado (Nov. 11, 13, and 15)
Director
Francesca Zambello
Associate Director
Joshua Horowitz *
Scenic Designer
Peter J. Davison
Costume Designer
Paul Tazewell
Assistant Costume Designer
Timm Burrow *
Lighting Designer
Mark McCullough
Sound Designer
Andrew Harper
Original Choreographer
Eric Sean Fogel
Revival Choreographer
Eboni Adams *
Chorus Director
Richard Bado ‡
Sarah and Ernest Butler Chorus Director Chair
HGO Orchestra
Original?Washington National Opera Production with Sets from The Glimmerglass Festival
SPONSORS:
Principal Guarantors
Dian and Harlan Stai
Guarantors
Margaret Alkek Williams
Laura and Brad McWilliams
Grand Underwriters
The Elkins Foundation
ConocoPhillips
Puccini: Il trittico
Performance dates: October 30, November 2m, 8, 12, 14, 2025
Sung in Italian with projected English translation
CAST:
Giorgetta / Suor Angelica / Lauretta
Corinne Winters *
Michele / Gianni Schicchi
Ryan McKinny ‡
Luigi / Rinuccio
Arturo Chacón-Cruz ‡
Frugola / La Principessa / Zita
Jamie Barton ‡
Talpa / Simone
Andrea Silvestrelli
Tinca / Gherardo
Matthew DiBattista *
Nella / Sister Genevieve
Meryl Dominguez ‡
CREATIVE TEAM:
Conductor
Patrick Summers
Sarah and Ernest Butler Chair
Director
James Robinson
Scenic Designer
Allen Moyer
Costume Designer
Bruno Schwengl
Lighting Designer
Marcus Doshi
Chorus Director
Richard Bado ‡
Sarah and Ernest Butler Chorus Director Chair
Children's Chorus Director
Karen Reeves
HGO Orchestra
HGO Chorus
HGO Children's Chorus
A Houston Grand Opera Production
SPONSORS:
Premier Guarantor
The Brown Foundation, Inc.
Guarantors
Drs. Liz Grimm and Jack Roth
Elizabeth and Richard Husseini
Novum Energy
Puts and Campbell: Silent Night
Music by Kevin Puts
Libretto by Mark Campbell
Performance dates: January 23, 25m, 31, February 4, 8m, 2026
Sung in English, French, and German, with projected English text/translation
CAST:
Nikolaus Sprink
Duke Kim *
Anna Sørensen
Sylvia D'Eramo *
Lieutenant Horstmayer
Ryan McKinny ‡
Lieutenant Audebert
Iurii Samoilov
Lieutenant Gordon
Thomas Glass ‡
CREATIVE TEAM:
Conductor
Kensho Watanabe *
Director
James Robinson
Scenic Designer
Mimi Lien
Costume Designer
Catherine Zuber
Lighting Designer
Lap Chi Chu *
Sound Designer
Andrew Harper
Chorus Director
Richard Bado ‡
Sarah and Ernest Butler Chorus Director Chair
HGO Orchestra
HGO Chorus
A Co-Production of Houston Grand Opera and the Metropolitan Opera
SPONSORS:
Premier Guarantor
Houston Grand Opera Endowment, Inc.
Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel
Performance dates: January 30, February 1m, 7, 12m (Student Matinee) #, 13, 14m (Family Day) #, 15m, 2026
Sung in German with projected English translation. Student Matinee and Family Day performances will be sung in English with an alternate cast (#).
CAST:
Hansel
Sasha Cooke
Gretel
Mané Galoyan ‡
Alissa Goretsky #†
The Witch
Jamie Barton ‡
Demetrious Sampson, Jr. #†
Gertrude
Alexandra Loutsion *
Elizabeth Hanje #†
Peter
Reginald Smith, Jr. ‡
Geonho Lee #†*
CREATIVE TEAM:
Conductor
Andreas Ottensamer *
William Long #*
Director
Antony McDonald *
Sasha Cooke #*
Associate Director / Associate Choreographer
Róisín Whelan *
Scenic and Costume Designer
Antony McDonald *
Lighting Designer
Lucy Carter *
Choreographer
Lucy Burge *
Children's Chorus Director
Karen Reeves
HGO Orchestra
HGO Children's Chorus
Produced in Association with the Royal Ballet and Opera and San Francisco Opera
SPONSORS:
Premier Guarantor
The Wortham Foundation, Inc.
Guarantor
Frost Bank
Handel (Arr. Mozart): Messiah
A Robert Wilson Production
Performance dates: April 17, 19m, 25, 29, May 1, 3m, 2026
Sung in English with projected English text
CAST:
Soprano
Ying Fang *
Countertenor
Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen ‡
Tenor
Ben Bliss
Bass-Baritone
Nicholas Newton ‡
CREATIVE TEAM:
Conductor
Patrick Summers
Sarah and Ernest Butler Chair
Director, Set, and Lighting Designer
Robert Wilson
Co-Director
Nicola Panzer
Co-Set Designer
Stephanie Engeln
Costume Designer
Carlos Soto
Co-Lighting Designer
Marcello Lumaca *
Video Designer
Tomek Jeziorski
Hair and Makeup Designer
Manu Halligan
Chorus Director
Richard Bado ‡
Sarah and Ernest Butler Chorus Director Chair
HGO Orchestra
HGO Chorus
A Co-Production of the?Salzburg?Mozarteum Foundation, the Salzburg Festival, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and the Grand Théâtre de Genève
SPONSORS:
Guarantors
Drs. Liz Grimm and Jack Roth
Grand Underwriters
Janet and John Carrig
Nancy Dunlap
Matt Healey
Rossini: The Barber of Seville
Performance dates: April 24, 26m, 28 (High School Night), May 2, 6, 8, 10m, 2026
Sung in Italian with projected English translation
CAST:
Figaro
Will Liverman *
Rosina
Daniela Mack *
Count Almaviva
Jack Swanson
Dr. Bartolo
Alessandro Corbelli
Don Basilio
Luca Pisaroni
Berta
Alissa Goretsky †
CREATIVE TEAM:
Conductor
Gemma New *
Director
Joan Font
Associate Director/ Choreographer
Xevi Dorca
Set & Costume Designer
Joan Guillén
Original Lighting Designer
Albert Faura
Revival Lighting Designer
Michael James Clark
Chorus Director
Richard Bado ‡
Sarah and Ernest Butler Chorus Director Chair
HGO Orchestra
HGO Chorus
A Co-Production?of Canadian Opera Company, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Opera Australia
SPONSORS:
Principal Guarantors
Dian and Harlan Stai
Guarantors
Margaret Alkek Williams
Laura and Brad McWilliams
***
Special Cullen Theater Performance: A Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio Production - available as a subscription add-on or as a single-ticket purchase
* Company debut
Floyd: Of Mice and Men
Arrangement by Jim Medvitz
Performance dates: March 13, 15m, 2026
Sung in English with projected English text
CAST:
Lennie Small
Demetrious Sampson, Jr. †
George Milton
Sam Dhobhany †
Curley's Wife
Alissa Goretsky †
Curley
Shawn Roth †
Candy
Ziniu Zhao †
Slim
Geonho Lee †
CREATIVE TEAM:
Conductor
Benjamin Manis
Director
Kristine McIntyre
Scenic and Projections Designer
Luke Cantarella *
Costume Designer
Kara Harmon *
Lighting Designer
Kate Ashton *
HGO Orchestra
A Co-Production of Houston Grand Opera^, Des Moines Metro Opera^, Florida State University, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City
^ leadership partner
SPONSORS
Guarantor
Carolyn Levy
SOURCE: Houston Grand Opera
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