Houston Grand Opera To Host 50 YEARS OF THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS IN HOUSTON: ART, CULTURE, AND AMERICAN IDENTITY
The event includes a panel discussion with experts and live performances ahead of the opera’s season-opening run.
Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will partner with Holocaust Museum Houston (HMH) for a special community conversation, 50 Years of the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess in Houston: Art, Culture, and American Identity, on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at 6:30 p.m.
The program commemorates the 50th anniversary of HGO’s landmark 1976 Porgy and Bess production, which restored the opera to the Gershwins’ original vision and earned both a Tony Award and a Grammy. The company will open its 2025–2026 season with a new staging from director Francesca Zambello.
Ahead of opening night, audiences are invited to explore the work’s enduring impact through a discussion moderated by HGO Composer-in-Residence Joel Thompson, featuring musicologist and Gershwin biographer Howard Pollack, and HMH’s Chief Learning and Interpretation Officer Wendy Warren.
The evening will also include live performances of selections from the opera, including “Summertime,” by Butler Studio artists soprano Elizabeth Hanje, tenor Demetrious Sampson, Jr., and pianist Tzu Kuang Tan.
The event will take place at the museum’s Albert and Ethel Herzstein Theater. Tickets are $15 and available now at HMH.org.
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