Houston Grand Opera Managing Director Perryn Leech and Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers have issued the following statement:

HGOco, Houston Grand Opera's community collaboration and education arm, has launched the next phase of itsSong of Houston initiative with commissions from two rising composer/librettist teams. Home of My Ancestors, by composer Nkeiru Okoye and librettist Anita Gonzalez, will premiere in March 2019. The not-yet-titled second opera, by composer Nell Shaw Cohen and librettist Megan Cohen, will premiere in March of 2021. A third commission will be announced at a later time. The award-winning Song of Houston is an initiative within HGOco that has been creating new works based on stories that define the unique character of Houston since 2007.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) has appointed Dale Edwards, a veteran of the New York performing arts marketing and advertising world, to the position of marketing director, it was announced by HGO Managing Director Perryn Leech. He assumes the position July 24.

Asia Society Texas Center will host Representation and 21 st Century Responsibilities in the Performing Arts, a free panel discussion and public forum in collaboration with Houston Grand Opera (HGO) on Friday, March 31, at 7 p.m.

Houston Grand Opera's HGOco announces auditions for the Bauer Family High School Voice Studio (HSVS) for students entering their junior or senior year of high school beginning in the fall of 2017. Applications are now being accepted on HGO's website at HSVS auditions. The deadline has been extended to March 24 at 5 p.m.

Houston Grand Opera presents Gotterdammerung (Twilight of the Gods), the final installment of Wagner's epic Ring cycle, featuring a new generation of leading Wagnerians including Simon O'Neill as Siegfried and Christine Goerke as Brunnhilde, starting April 22.

The Houston Symphony announced today that Tony Award winner and three-time Emmy Award nominee Phylicia Rashad will join the cast of its new semi-staged, concert version of Beethoven's Fidelio, the composer's only opera, March 31 and April 2.

Opera in the Heights (OH) announces its 2017-18 season, a diverse collection of masterworks, which artistic director Eiki Isomura calls 'a representation of what we value most at Opera in the Heights.' In describing the company's four main stage productions, Isomura states, 'There is no better showcase for the vocal virtuosity of our emerging artists than La Fille du Regiment. And there is no better gateway into the art form for our younger audiences than The Magic Flute,' says Isomura. 'The grandeur of Un Ballo in Maschera finds its most potent expression in the intimacy of our venue, Lambert Hall. Finally, Candide will highlight our brilliant OH Orchestra and give us an opportunity to honor the past with Leonard Bernstein's upcoming centennial and, at the same time, further expand our repertoire.'