Porgy and Bess is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play Porgy, itself an adaptation of DuBose Heyward's 1925 novel Porgy.
Carlisle Sessions Floyd was an American composer primarily known for his operas. These stage works, for which he wrote not only the music but also the librettos, typically engage with themes from the American South, particularly the Post-civil war South, the Great Depression and rural life. His best known opera, Susannah, is based on a story from the Biblical Apocrypha, transferred to contemporary rural Tennessee, and written for a Southern dialect. It was premiered at Florida State University in 1955, with Phyllis Curtin in the title role. When it was staged at the New York City Opera the following year, the reception was initially mixed; some considered it a masterpiece, while others degraded it as a 'folk opera'. Subsequent performances led to an increase in Susannah's reputation and the opera quickly became among the most performed of American operas.
Jake Heggie is an American composer of opera, vocal, orchestral, and chamber music. He is best known for his operas and art songs as well as for his collaborations with internationally renowned performers and writers.
Little Women (1998) is the first opera written by American composer Mark Adamo to his own libretto after Louisa May Alcott's 1868–69 tale of growing up in New England after the American Civil War, Little Women. The opera also includes text by John Bunyan, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Alcott herself.
Leonard Foglia is an American theatre director, librettist, and novelist.
John DeMain is an American conductor who serves as music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra in Wisconsin, as well as serving as artistic director of Madison Opera.
Three Decembers is a chamber opera in two acts by Jake Heggie to a libretto by Gene Scheer which is based on the unpublished play Some Christmas Letters by Terrence McNally. Created with a role for Frederica von Stade, the work premiered on 29 February 2008 at the Houston Grand Opera (HGO). It commissioned the work in association with the San Francisco Opera and Cal Performances.
Margaret Lloyd is an American soprano who is particularly known for her performances in contemporary operas and concert works. She has sung in the world premieres of several operas, most notably portraying the role of Lightfoot McClendon in the premiere of Carlisle Floyd's Cold Sassy Tree at the Houston Grand Opera in 2000. She has also sung in the world premieres of several works by composer Michael Torke.
David Gockley is an American opera company administrator. He served as general director of Houston Grand Opera from 1972 to 2005 and San Francisco Opera from 2006 to 2016. He is a student of Margaret Harshaw.
Khorshed Dastoor better known as Khori Dastoor is an American arts executive. She is the General Director and CEO of Houston Grand Opera (2021–present) and the former General Director of Opera San José (2019-2021).
Jonita Lattimore is an American operatic soprano and a faculty member of Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts. She is a lyric soprano from Chicago's South Side who has performed a wide range of operatic roles, as well as oratorio performances with major orchestras both internationally and domestically.
Robert Mosley was an American operatic bass-baritone. Part of the first generation of African-American opera singers to achieve wide success, he performed in numerous opera productions, recitals, and in concerts from the 1950s through the 1990s. In 1957 he won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He drew particular acclaim for his portrayal of Porgy in George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, a role which he portrayed in the landmark 1976 Houston Grand Opera production, on Broadway, and at the Metropolitan Opera among other opera companies both in the United States and in Europe.
Patrick Summers is an American conductor best known for his work with Houston Grand Opera (HGO), where he has been the artistic and music director since 2011, and with San Francisco Opera, where he served as principal guest conductor, 1999–2016.
Chris Nance was an American conductor and music educator. Primarily active as an opera conductor, he served on the conducting staff of the New York City Opera from 1969-1974 and was the music administrator and conductor of the Houston Grand Opera from 1974-1977. Thereafter he worked as a freelance conductor with opera companies throughout the world. He became particularly associated with George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess for which he was frequently hired to conduct at opera houses both in the United States and abroad.
Carroll Freeman is an American operatic tenor, opera director, and music educator. He began his career as a prominent boy soprano in the 1960s. From the late 1970s through the mid 1990s he performed widely as a tenor with opera companies and orchestras in the United States. After that he worked as a director of opera productions with opera companies throughout North America. He is the former director of the opera program at the University of Tennessee and currently directs the opera program at Georgia State University. He is also the former Artistic Director of Mississippi Opera, Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point, and opera studios at Knoxville Opera and Des Moines Metro Opera.
C. William Harwood was an American conductor. Chiefly remembered for his work as an opera conductor, he notably conducted the Houston Grand Opera's groundbreaking 1977 national tour of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. He also conducted the world premieres of operas by Claude Debussy, Frederick Delius, Stephen Paulus, and George Rochberg.
The Passion of Jonathan Wade is a musical drama, or opera, in three acts by the American composer Carlisle Floyd, who wrote both libretto and music. Commissioned by the Ford Foundation, it was Floyd's most epic opera, set in South Carolina during the Reconstruction era. It was premiered at the New York City Opera on October 11, 1962, directed by Allen Fletcher and conducted by Julius Rudel. Floyd revised it in 1989 for performances at four major opera houses in the U.S., beginning at the Houston Grand Opera.
Gordon Hawkins is an American baritone known for his work on both the operatic and concert stage, particularly as one of the foremost interpreters of the roles of Porgy and Crown in Porgy and Bess. His music career began in the 1980s with him singing major concert repertoire and opera roles in his native Maryland. Since then, Hawkins has performed for national and international opera houses and venues, including the Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and more. In addition to performing, he is currently on the voice faculty at Arizona State University.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead: A Liberation Through Hearing is the first opera by American composer Ricky Ian Gordon. The libretto is from Jean-Claude van Itallie's theatrical adaptation of Buddhist teachings,Tibetan Book of the Dead or How Not to Do It Again.
Joseph Evans is an American tenor, stage director, and music educator. Trained at the University of North Texas, Evans made his professional opera debut with the Fort Worth Opera in December 1966 in the world premiere of Julia Smith's The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep. In his early career he worked as a music teacher in Dallas and Houston while working part time as a performer. With the encouragement and support of Sarah Caldwell he pursued a full time singing career. He was a principal tenor in Caldwell's Opera Company of Boston from 1974 to 1988.
