Houston Grand Opera to Present 2025 Butler Studio Showcase
The performance will take place on September 12, 2025.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Aug. 20, 2025
The Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio will present the annual Butler Studio Showcase on September 12, 2025, in the Cullen Theater at the Wortham Theater Center.
Each year, this highly anticipated event shines a spotlight on the exceptional talents of HGO's rising stars in the renowned Butler Studio. In a vibrant evening of operatic scenes, eight returning artists will be joined by three new members to present fully staged, costumed excerpts from a range of beloved works. This year's program includes selections from Don Giovanni, Don Carlo, Fidelio, Cavalleria rusticana, The Rake's Progress, Eugene Onegin, Die tote Stadt, and La traviata.
Since 1977, the Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio has cultivated the next generation of operatic talent through one of the world's premier young artist programs. Designed for singers and pianists with extraordinary promise, the Butler Studio offers a residency of up to three years focused on intensive, individualized training. Artists work closely with top professionals in the field and gain critical stage experience in high-profile productions—equipping them to launch major careers in opera.
HGO's 2025-26 Butler Studio Artists
- Alissa Goretsky, soprano (third-place winner at HGO's 2024 Concert of Arias)
- Elizabeth Hanje, soprano (first-place winner at HGO's 2024 Concert of Arias)
- Michael McDermott, tenor (third-place winner at HGO's 2023 Concert of Arias)
- Shawn Roth, tenor
- Demetrious Sampson, Jr., tenor (second-place and Audience Choice winner at HGO's 2023 Concert of Arias)
- Luka Tsevelidze, tenor/first-year artist (second-place winner at HGO's 2025 Concert of Arias)
- Geonho Lee, baritone/first-year artist (first-place winner and Audience Choice winner at HGO's 2025 Concert of Arias)
- Sam Dhobhany, bass-baritone (winner of the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award at HGO's 2024 Concert of Arias)
- Ziniu Zhao, bass (second-place winner at HGO's 2024 Concert of Arias)
- Jenny Choo, pianist/coach
- Tzu Kuang Tan, pianist/coach/first-year artist
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