Houstonians Invited to Join Houston Grand Opera and Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church for the Fifth Annual GIVING VOICE Concert

On Friday, March 8, 2024, 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.

Taking place Friday, March 8, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, 3826 Wheeler Ave., Houston, TX 77004. 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. 

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 mission to 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 (75 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.  

About Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church

Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, founded in 1962 by 13 friends at Texas Southern University, today has over 15,000 members. Dr. Marcus D. Cosby, the successor to the Founding Pastor Emeritus, Rev. William A. Lawson, has led the congregation since 2004. The church, a leader in the Civil Rights Movement that early on welcomed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is located in Houston's Third Ward. Its mission is to be a worshiping, witnessing, and welcoming congregation committed to a spirit of excellence in the praise of the Almighty God through Jesus Christ; the Christian Education of children, youth, and adults for the maturation in the faith; and worldwide ministry for the promotion of peace and justice in every aspect of life. The church opened its new building in 2021.

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