Houston Grand Opera News

Isabel Leonard has had a career that has brought her to leading opera houses and concert halls around the world. This season, she will return to her native New York, where she curates a four-concert Perspectives series at Carnegie Hall.

OPERA America is recognizing the nearly 100 artists, companies, and trustees whose creative work and initiatives won grants and awards totaling more than $1,000,000 in 2025.

We're in the final weeks to vote for the 2025 BroadwayWorld Houston Awards! Voting ends on 12/31/2025 at midnight. Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

The latest standings have been released for the 2025 BroadwayWorld Houston Awards! Voting ends on 12/31/2025 at midnight. Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

Today’s subject Academy and Emmy Award winning composer Rachel Portman has a career that includes scoring for over100 films, television and a stage musical of Little House on the Prairie. This week her foray into opera can be seen and heard in the Terrace Theater At Kennedy Center as Washington National Opera (WNO) presents The Little Prince as their annual family opera offering. The show runs for only five performances between December 12th and 14th. WNO first performed it 2014. It premiered at Houston Grand Opera in 2003.

Primo Artists has announced Exclusive Worldwide Management of conductor Cristian Măcelaru, effective immediately. The agency will become his General Management and will continue to oversee his Publicity and Social Media worldwide.

The latest standings have been released for the 2025 BroadwayWorld Houston Awards! Voting ends on 12/31/2025 at midnight. Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

When I read that the Met, in the program notes for James Robinson’s production of PORGY AND BESS, called it “a supremely American operatic masterpiece” I couldn’t help but think of Stephen Sondheim’s answer (perhaps apocryphal) when he was asked whether SWEENEY TODD was an opera or a musical: “If it’s done in a theatre, it’s a musical; if it’s in an opera house, it’s an opera.”

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will open Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, a timeless adaptation of the Brothers Grimm tale. Produced in association with the London's Royal Ballet and Opera and San Francisco Opera.

The first standings have been released for the 2025 BroadwayWorld Houston Awards! Voting ends on 12/31/2025 at midnight. Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

This week, we look at the record-setting viewership of the 2025 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and renewed efforts in New York and abroad to redefine cultural priorities. Across Broadway, we probe shifting economic pressures on creatives through a new interview with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Meanwhile, with the announcement of a new arts and culture transition committee by Zohran Mamdani, incoming leadership may reimagine the city’s cultural agenda. On a regional level, we follow the pioneering costume exhibition by Cleo Parker Robinson Dance at Denver International Airport — a celebration of decades of creative work — and internationally, we cover a new report revealing post-pandemic shifts across UK theatres, as well as the opening night of Paddington: The Musical in London’s West End.

Houston Grand Opera will host a panel discussion at the Alliance Française Houston, “Peace in the Trenches: The Story Behind Silent Night.” The conversation will reflect upon Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell's 2011 opera, Silent Night.

From award-winning Broadway marketing campaigns and fresh digital viewing options for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to updates on tax credits and Tony eligibility, the industry continues to adapt on multiple fronts. Regional and national stories examine how institutions are navigating political scrutiny and how artists across the country are sustaining their work amid financial pressures. Internationally, major regulatory changes in the U.K. signal further shifts in how audiences access live performance.

Lyric Opera of Chicago will present Mozart’s beloved masterpiece Così fan tutte. This glamorous rom-com returns to Lyric in a sun-soaked 1930s-era seaside country club setting.

Houston Grand Opera will launch its winter repertoire on January 23, 2026, with the Houston premiere of Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s SILENT NIGHT. Presented in a new co-production with the Metropolitan Opera, the staging marks the first major revision of the Pulitzer Prize-winning work since its 2011 debut.

Poudre High School Theatre demonstrates how Stage Mag can be used by organizations of all shapes and sizes to build a fully interactive show program. In New York, the Performing Arts Library prepares a major Martha Graham exhibition, and Leigh Silverman steps into her new role as President of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation. Regionally, IN Series appoints its first Executive Director and Dallas restores funding to Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Abroad, the National Youth Theatre expands its Assemble programme with a significant new grant.

Houston Grand Opera is inviting the community to gather at Discovery Green for Carols on the Green, the company's annual holiday concert and sing-along combining beloved carols with festive Spanish-language favorites.

Musiqa, Houston's composer-led contemporary music presenter, has announced the appointment of Dawson White as Executive Director, succeeding Anthony Barilla.

Rise and shine, BroadwayWorld! It is November 11, 2025 and it's time to catch up on all of the theatrical happenings you may have missed in the last 24 hours.

This week’s roundup highlights major leadership changes, funding shifts, and renewed investment in the performing arts. OPERA America has named Michael J. Bobbitt as its next President & CEO, while Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS announced $1.5 million in emergency food grants nationwide. In New York, The Joyce Theater Foundation received a landmark $15 million gift, and Broadway productions prepare to take the stage at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Regionally, Chicago’s cultural department faces a proposed budget reduction, Theatre Washington released a new industry impact report, and Houston Grand Opera appointed James Gaffigan as its next Music Director. Meanwhile, in the UK, opera and arts education take center stage with efforts to broaden access and strengthen creative learning.