Fifth Annual Giving Voice Concert

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will stage the fifth annual Giving Voice in partnership with Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church (WABC). The concert will be presented at the historic Third Ward church for the second year running.

The concert will feature choral works by a mass choir of singers from WABC, the Houston Ebony Opera Guild, and the HGO Chorus, as well as a special performance from Houston’s emerging spiritual ensemble, Voices of Houston. It will also bring the world premiere of four songs by HGO Composer in Residence Joel Thompson, based on poems by U.S. poet laureate emeritus Rita Dove and written for Richardson, who will perform them.

This year the Giving Voice series, created in 2019 by American tenor Lawrence Brownlee, will highlight the artistry and contributions of Black women in opera and the Houston community. The event, to be held on International Women's Day, will also mark Women’s History Month, celebrated throughout March.