Anthony Freud News

Houston Grand Opera presents its 43rd world premiere, a newly commissioned chamber opera by Azerbaijani composer Franghiz Alizadeh. Your Name Means the Sea opens on May 21, 2011 at the Cullen Theater in the Wortham Theater Center, with additional performances on May 24 and 26. Commissioned as part of the HGOco Song of Houston: East + West project, Your Name Means the Sea unites two cultures, two countries and one love in a tale about Denise, a young American painter and Seymur, a young singer from Baku, Azerbaijan.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) today confirmed that General Director and CEO Anthony Freud will be leaving the company to take up the position of General Director of Lyric Opera of Chicago. Freud has served as General Director of Houston Grand Opera since the 2005-06 season.

HGO Chairman Mr. Glen Rosenbaum today announced that Houston Grand Opera had received a major donation of $4 million from The Alkek and Williams Foundation for the creation of the Margaret Alkek Williams General Director Chair Fund. This endowed Chair recognizes Margaret Alkek Williams, a major philanthropic figure in Houston and a longtime supporter of HGO.

The freezing weather did not stop the show or keep Houston opera fans away from last night's annual Concert of Arias; in fact, there was record attendance at the successful event. Eight finalists competed and two baritones, a soprano and a bass were named winners in the final round of the twenty-third annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers at the Wortham Center in downtown Houston.

Houston Grand Opera announces the launch of Song of Houston: East + West, a series of new operas that celebrate Houston as a meeting place for Eastern and Western cultures.

Houston Grand Opera announced the finalists today in the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers to be presented in the annual Concert of Arias on Thursday, February 3, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. in the Cullen Theater of the Wortham Center.

Houston Grand Opera announced the finalists today in the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers to be presented in the annual Concert of Arias on Thursday, February 3, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. in the Cullen Theater of the Wortham Center.

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, January 30, 2011 - Sunday, January 30, 2011.

Houston Grand Opera General Director and CEO Anthony Freud announced the company's 2011-2012 season today. Opening on October 21, 2011, the season offers thirty-two performances of six operas. 'We've chosen an exciting array of operas that will thrill, stimulate and entertain,' says Freud. 'From celebrated masterpieces to rarely-performed operatic gems, our 2011-12 season features world-renowned directors, beloved productions and acclaimed singers.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) continues its 2010-11 season with a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor, Gaetano Donizetti's bel canto masterpiece, opening on Friday, January 28, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. in the Brown Theater of the Wortham Theater Center.

Lynn Wyatt, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Houston Grand Opera (HGO) and a Life Trustee of the organization, together with Anthony Freud, HGO General Director and CEO, today announced that mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato will be the Lynn Wyatt Great Artist at Houston Grand Opera for the 2011-12 season.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) continues its 2010-11 season with a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor, Gaetano Donizetti's bel canto masterpiece, opening on Friday, January 28, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. in the Brown Theater of the Wortham Theater Center.

Houston Grand Opera announces the launch of Song of Houston: East + West, a series of new operas that celebrate Houston as a meeting place for Eastern and Western cultures.

Lynn Wyatt, Houston Grand Opera Life Trustee and longtime member of the Board of Directors, was recently named a recipient of the 2011 National Opera Trustee Recognition Award. Sponsored by OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, in partnership with Bank of America, this award honors trustees of U.S. opera companies for exemplary leadership, generosity and audience-building efforts on behalf of their respective opera companies.

At its meeting on December 8, 2010, the Houston Grand Opera Association Board of Directors unanimously elected Beth Madison to succeed Glen Rosenbaum as its chair. Rosenbaum, whose term expires on July 31, 2011, has been Chairman since September, 2009.'It has been an inspiration and a delight to get to know Beth over the last few years,' says HGO General Director and CEO Anthony Freud. 'I am thrilled that the Board of Directors has elected her as its new chair to succeed Glen Rosenbaum next August, and I look forward, with eager anticipation, to working with her'.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) presented its forty-first world premiere, To Cross the Face of the Moon / Cruzar la Cara de la Luna in a sold-out concert performance on Saturday, November 13, 2010.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) presented its forty-first world premiere, To Cross the Face of the Moon / Cruzar la Cara de la Luna in a sold-out concert performance on Saturday, November 13, 2010.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present its forty-first world premiere, To Cross the Face of the Moon / Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, commissioned by HGO through its Song of Houston project. Music by José 'Pepe' Martinez, music director of Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, with libretto by acclaimed Broadway director and author Leonard Foglia, the opera will be performed in concert by a cast that includes mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte, baritone and HGO studio alumnus Octavio Moreno, and Martinez, together with Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, on Saturday, November 13, 2010, at the Wortham Theater Center in Houston, Texas. This will be Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán's only Houston performance in 2010.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present its forty-first world premiere, To Cross the Face of the Moon / Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, commissioned by HGO through its Song of Houston Project.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) continues its 2010-11 season with Peter Grimes, British composer Benjamin Britten's masterful opera about the human struggle of the individual versus the masses against the backdrop of the raging sea. Following HGO's acclaimed productions of Billy Budd (2008), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2009) and The Turn of the Screw (2010), Peter Grimes is the fourth opera in HGO's highly successful and innovative Benjamin Britten series. 'Peter Grimes is an opera that delivers a punch like no other,' explained HGO General Director Anthony Freud. 'It's an opera that has a visceral power, an emotional impact and an immediacy that is truly overwhelming.' HGO will present a series of Britten operas through the 2012-13 season, which marks the centennial of the composer's birth.