Jun. 7 & 9, 2024 data-filter="[2024 06|2024 06|][jones-hall|jones-hall|][June|June|][[{|term_id|:7,|name|:|Classical Series|,|slug|:|classical-series|,|term_group|:0,|term_taxonomy_id|:7,|taxonomy|:|series|,|description|:||,|parent|:0,|count|:154,|filter|:|raw|}]][{|term_id|:2304,|name|:|2023\u201324|,|slug|:|2023-24|,|term_group|:0,|term_taxonomy_id|:2304,|taxonomy|:|season|,|description|:||,|parent|:0,|count|:56,|filter|:|raw|}]" With its explosive score, erotically-charged plot, and infamous “Dance of the Seven Veils,” Richard Strauss’s Salome caused a scandal when first premiered—and its impact is no less earth-shattering today. Headlined by world-renowned soprano Jennifer Holloway, a star-studded cast joins Music Director Juraj Valčuha and the orchestra for the biggest concert production in Houston Symphony history, including stunning scenic projections, stylized costumes, theatrical lighting, and custom-built design and staging elements to immerse you and transport you.
RUN TIME: 1 hour, 50 minutes https://david-early-1.wistia.com/medias/ghss7rld5y Salome in Concert: Pre-Concert Panel Discussion
JUN 7 – Friday, 6:00 PM at Jones Hall
Prior to Friday’s performance, learn more about the historical context around Salome, and the challenges it can pose for a contemporary audience, in a free panel discussion in the Jones Hall Mezzanine. Moderated by Dr. Jason Oby, the panel will include Dr. Kathryn Caton, Dr. Alison Maggart, and Salome in Concert Creative Director Adam Larsen.
FREE, tickets required: click here to reserve your free tickets
Audience warning: Salome contains violence, sexual content, and negative depictions of people and cultures, and is not suitable for all audiences. {|with_image|:[{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Juraj Val\u010duha|,|bio|:|Conductor Juraj Val\u010duha is recognized for his effortless expressiveness and depth of musicianship. With sharp baton technique and natural stage presence, the impressive ease of his interpretations translate even the most complex scores into immersive experiences. His profound understanding of composer and score, taste, and naturally elegant style make him one of the most sought-after conductors of his generation.\n|,|title|:|conductor|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Jennifer Holloway|,|bio|:|In recent years, American soprano Jennifer Holloway has established herself internationally as one of the leading sopranos in the dramatic repertoire.\nIn the new season, she returns to the Bavarian State Opera as Senta (Der fliegende Holl\u00e4nder). At the Hamburg State Opera, she makes her role debuts as Fidelio-Leonore and as Ellen Orford (Peter Grimes). Under Kirill Petrenko, she sings Chrysothemis (Elektra) in Bergen and later at Oper Leipzig. Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Li\u00e8ge has invited her to perform Wagner’s Wesendoncklieder.\nHighlights of recent seasons include Salome at the Vienna and Berlin State Operas and the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Chrysothemis, Tannh\u00e4user-Elisabeth, and her role debut as Senta at the Hamburg State Opera; Cassandre (Les Troyens) at the Munich Opera Festival; Sieglinde (Die Walk\u00fcre) in concert with the Orchestre de Paris under Jaap van Zweden and at the Vienna Konzerthaus under Joana Mallwitz; the title role of C\u00e9sar Franck’s Hulda in Paris; Grete in a new production of Schreker’s Der ferne Klang at Oper Frankfurt; her role debut as Lohengrin-Elsa at Oper Leipzig; the Komponist (Ariadne auf Naxos) at Teatro Colon Buenos Aires; Cassandre and Salome at Semperoper Dresden; her debut as Sieglinde at Staatsoper Hamburg; and Salome in Bilbao and Atlanta.\nJennifer began her career as a mezzo-soprano at houses such as Teatro Real Madrid, Los Angeles Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Th\u00e9\u00e2tre du Capitole Toulouse, and Th\u00e9\u00e2tre du Ch\u00e2telet in Paris.\n|,|title|:|soprano (Salome)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Mark S. Doss|,|bio|:|Grammy Award\u00a0winner Mark S. Doss\u2019s most recent engagements include the\u00a0lead roles in Matthew Aucoin\u2019s Eurydice with Boston Lyric, Leo\u0161 Jan\u00e1\u010dek\u2019s From the\u00a0House of the Dead with Rome Opera, and Germont in\u00a0Welsh National\u00a0Opera\u2019s La Traviata. This past season also saw him at Lincoln Center\u2019s Geffen Hall with New York Philharmonic players in a program entitled,\u00a0Here I Stand: Paul Robeson\u2019s\u00a0125th Birthday Celebration.\u00a0Over the past two seasons, he has sung the bass-baritone\u00a0part in Beethoven\u2019s\u00a09th with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Houston Symphony,\u00a0and\u00a0the Teatro La Fenice in the Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy.\u00a0Other engagements include Creon and the Messenger in Opera Company of\u00a0Philadelphia\u2019s Oedipus Rex, Balstrode in Peter Grimes\u00a0with La\u00a0Fenice, Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana at London\u2019s Royal Opera, Nicholas Lens\u2019s Shell Shock with\u00a0the Philharmonie of Paris, and Scarpia in Puccini\u2019s Tosca and the title role in Verdi\u2019s Rigoletto\u00a0with Welsh National Opera.\nBeginning his career on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Mark\u2019s illustrious career has taken him to the\u00a0most prestigious opera houses\u00a0in the world, including\u00a0numerous roles at\u00a0La Scala, Lyric Opera of Chicago,\u00a0San Francisco Opera, the Teatro Regio in Turin, and La Monnaie in Brussels. Additionally, he has had important debuts with the Vienna Staatsoper (Amonasro in Aida), the Berlin Staatsoper, Madrid\u2019s Teatro Real, and the Theatro of Sao Paulo in Brazil (Jochanaan in Salome), and the New National Opera in Tokyo (the Hoffmann Villains).\nThis season will\u00a0see him in performances of\u00a0Jochanaan in Salome with the Houston Symphony, and he will open the 2024-25 Season featured in a project to celebrate the\u00a0contributions of Paul Robeson and\u00a0commemorating\u00a0the 75th anniversary of\u00a0the horrific\u00a0events surrounding his 1949 concert in Peekskill and the Town of Cortlandt. Following that, Mark returns to\u00a0La Monnaie to sing\u00a0the Original Cast revival of\u00a0The Time of Our Singing. A Grammy Award winner for his participation in Handel\u2019s\u00a0Semele (Best Opera Recording), he\u00a0also is a recipient of the National Institute for Music Theatre\u2019s George London Opera Prize,\u00a0and Planet Africa\u2019s Entertainment Award.\n|,|title|:|baritone (Jochanaan)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|John Daszak|,|bio|:|Admired for his\u00a0vocal\u00a0versatility\u00a0and dramatic power, British tenor John Daszak enjoys a vibrant international opera career\u00a0and regular collaborations with many key conductors and directors.\nIn recent seasons, the role of Herod in Strauss\u2019s\u00a0Salome\u00a0has become central to John\u2019s repertoire following an acclaimed debut in the role at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden conducted by Henrik N\u00e1n\u00e1si and new productions at the Salzburg and Aix Festivals under Franz Welser-M\u00f6st and Ingo Metzmacher respectively. He continues to be closely associated with many works, including\u00a0Wozzeck,\u00a0Boris Godunov, Elektra, Il prigioniero, and\u00a0Kat\u2019a Kabanova.\nOther operatic successes include appearances as Grishka Kuter’na in\u00a0The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh\u00a0at Dutch National Opera, as Zemlinsky\u2019s\u00a0Der Zwerg\u00a0at the Bayerische Staatsoper, and as Alviano Salvago in Die Gezeichneten\u00a0at Opernhaus Z\u00fcrich. Strongly associated with the music of Benjamin Britten, John made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Captain Vere (Billy Budd), sang Peter Grimes at Teatro alla Scala, and starred as Gustav von Aschenbach (Death in Venice) at the Teatro Real.\u00a0He made house debuts at the Bayreuther Festspiele as Loge (Das Rheingold), at Staatsoper Unter den Linden as Tambour-Major (Wozzeck), and at Moscow\u2019s historic Bolshoi Theatre as Sergei (Katarina Ismailova).\nHighlights this season include Skuratov (From the House of the Dead)\u00a0at Ruhr Triennale under Dennis Russel Davies, performances of Salome\u00a0at both Staatsoper Hamburg conducted by Kent Nagano and at Teatro dell\u2019Opera di Roma under Marc Albrecht, and a return to Bayreuther Festspiele as Loge.\nA\u00a0popular concert performer with a repertoire ranging from Jan\u00e1\u010dek\u2019s\u00a0Glagolitic Mass\u00a0through to Beethoven\u2019s Symphony No. 9 and\u00a0from Mahler\u2019s\u00a0Symphony No. 8\u00a0to\u00a0Verdi\u2019s\u00a0Messa da Requiem, John has worked with many esteemed conductors and orchestras, including Donald Runnicles and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra,\u00a0and\u00a0Thomas Hengelbrock and the NDR Elbphilharmonie.\nFeaturing on several operatic\u00a0DVD\u00a0releases, John Daszak\u2019s discography\u00a0includes The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh\u00a0from Dutch National Opera (Opus Arte),\u00a0Death in Venice\u00a0from the Teatro Real (Naxos), and\u00a0Salome\u00a0from the Salzburg Festival (Unitel).\n|,|title|:|tenor (Herodes)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Linda Watson|,|bio|:|Linda Watson, an American\u00a0dramatic soprano made her career based in Germany where she began as a\u00a0mezzo-soprano\u00a0at the\u00a0Theater Aachen in 1992. She has performed worldwide, including at the\u00a0Vienna State Opera,\u00a0La Scala, the\u00a0Metropolitan Opera,\u00a0and the\u00a0Bayreuth Festival. She focused on dramatic roles by Wagner, Strauss, and Turandot. She was awarded the title\u00a0Kammersa\u0308ngerin\u00a0in Germany in 2004 and in Austria in 2020.\nEarly in her career, Linda performed Wagnerian roles such as Branga\u0308ne in\u00a0Tristan und Isolde\u00a0and Venus in\u00a0Tannha\u0308user. She became a member of the\u00a0Deutsche Oper am Rhein\u00a0in 1997. The same year, she first appeared as Venus at the\u00a0Vienna State Opera, and a year later as Kundry in\u00a0Parsifal\u00a0at the\u00a0Bayreuth Festival. From 2000 to 2005, she portrayed Ortrud in\u00a0Lohengrin\u00a0at Bayreuth.\nFrom 2006 to 2010, she sang all three Bru\u0308nnhilde roles in\u00a0Ring des Nibelungen\u00a0at the Bayreuth Festival, and she performed these roles in the new production at the Vienna State Opera, earning a solo Grammy nomination. She subsequently appeared as Bru\u0308nnhilde at many of the world’s great opera houses, including at the\u00a0Teatro Colo\u0301n\u00a0in Buenos Aires, even in a nine-hour compilation of all the\u00a0Ring\u00a0in one day. She added more dramatic roles to her repertoire, including Isolde,\u00a0Elektra, and both the Dyer’s Wife and the Nurse in\u00a0Die Frau ohne Schatten. The credibility of her portrayals and her vocal bravura led to engagements worldwide. She has worked with the world\u2019s leading conductors.\nIn 2013 and 2014, Linda returned to the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein to perform as Isolde, Marschallin, Elektra, Ariadne, and Bru\u0308nnhilde. At the Vienna State Opera, she was appointed Kammersa\u0308ngerin in January 2020. At La Scala in Milan, she could be seen and heard in the 2020-21 and 2022-23 Seasons as Herodias in\u00a0Salome. In June 2023, she sang the Amme in the San\u00a0Francisco premiere of Hockney\u2019s Frau Ohne Schatten under Donald\u00a0Runnicles.\nLinda Watson is a professor of voice at the\u00a0Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna and performs master classes worldwide.\n|,|title|:|mezzo-soprano (Herodias)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Issachah Savage|,|bio|:|Dramatic tenor Issachah Savage has appeared with many of the world\u2019s leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, The Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orquestra Sinf\u00f4nica do Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo, and the Melbourne Symphony. He has worked with some of today\u2019s foremost conductors, including Yannick N\u00e9zet-Seguin, Gustavo Dudamel, Riccardo Muti, Fabio Luisi, James Conlon, Gianandrea Noseda, Marin Alsop, Jaap van Zweden, Robert Spano, and Susanna M\u00e4lkki.\nOperatic highlights include appearances with The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, LA Opera, Seattle Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Op\u00e9ra National de Bordeaux, Th\u00e9\u00e2tre du Capitole de Toulouse, and the Salzburg Festival. He has sung much of the great dramatic tenor repertoire, including the title roles in Tannh\u00e4user, Otello, and Rienzi; Siegmund in Die Walk\u00fcre; Radam\u00e8s in Aida; Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos; Manrico in Il Trovatore; and Narraboth in Salome.\nThis season, in addition to this debut with the Houston Symphony for Salome (Narraboth), Issachah will make a highly anticipated role debut as Der Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten at Th\u00e9\u00e2tre du Capitole de Toulouse. On the concert stage, he returns to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for Mendelssohn\u2019s Elijah conducted by James Conlon and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for a program of selections from Great American Songbook with Karen Slack and conducted by Fabio Luisi. He will also return to Los Angeles for a recital at UCLA.\nIssachah is the winner of the Seattle International Wagner Competition earning the main prize, audience favorite prize, orchestra favorite prize, and a special honor by Speight Jenkins. He has received several prestigious awards, recognition, and career grants from institutions such as Wagner Societies of New York, Washington, D. C., and Northern California; Licia Albanese International Puccini Foundation; Olga Forrai Foundation; Gerda Lissner Foundation; Jensen Vocal Competition; Opera Index; and Giulio Gari Foundation.\nHe holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in vocal performance from Morgan State University and a master\u2019s degree in opera voice performance from The Catholic University of America.\n|,|title|:|tenor (Narraboth)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Hannah Ludwig|,|bio|:|The New York Times calls mezzo-soprano Hannah Ludwig \u201cbest in show.\u201d In the 2023-24 Season, she made her debut with the New York Philharmonic singing Handel\u2019s Messiah. She joins the Des Moines Symphony for Beethoven\u2019s Symphony No. 9 and sings Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Opera Louisiane).\nOther recent engagements include Elgar\u2019s Sea Pictures and Prokofiev\u2019s Alexander Nevsky (Colorado Symphony), Handel\u2019s Messiah (National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Las Vegas Philharmonic), Mahler\u2019s Symphony No. 2 (Flint Symphony Orchestra), and Mozart\u2019s Requiem (Columbus Symphony).\nA prolific Rossini interpreter, she joined Eroica Berlin for L\u2019italiana in Algeri; Teatro Nuovo for Maometto II, La gazza ladra, Tancredi, and Il barbiere di Siviglia; and Annapolis Opera for Il barbiere di Siviglia. Other bel canto performances include Anna Bolena (Baltimore Concert Opera), Lucia di Lammermoor (Opera Philadelphia), and Norma (Sacramento Philharmonic). She joined Utah Opera for Rigoloetto and Dallas Opera for Das Rheingold and Die Zauberfl\u00f6te.\n|,|title|:|mezzo-soprano (Page of Herodias)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Bille Bruley|,|bio|:|Praised by the Huffington Post for his \u201cringing high notes,\u201d Texas-born tenor Bille Bruley has garnered attention for his strength and versatility in operatic repertoire from baroque to contemporary.\nBille\u2019s 2023-24 Season began with his house debut at San Francisco Opera for Mason Bates and Mark Campbell\u2019s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Steve Wozniak) followed by joining the roster of the Lyric Opera of Chicago for Jenufa. On the concert stage, he makes this debut with the Houston Symphony in Salome (First Jew), and debuts with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic in Mozart\u2019s Requiem, and cover in Act I of Die Walk\u00fcre (Siegmund) with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.\nLast season, he made a role debut in Ariadne auf Naxos (Bacchus) at Arizona Opera. Other highlights included his returns to Austin Opera for Sweeney Todd (Beadle) and The Santa Fe Opera for Der fliegende Holl\u00e4nder (Steuermann).\n|,|title|:|tenor (First Jew)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Rafael Moras|,|bio|:|Hailed for his ability to communicate \u201c\u2026romance and heartbreak with his soaring tenor tones,\u201d by Broadway World and \u201c…heroic bravado\u2026,\u201d \u201c\u2026acting chops\u2026,\u201d and \u201c\u2026irresistible mix of Italianate and Latin passion\u2026\u201d by Musical America Worldwide, Opera News, and Classical Voice North America respectively, tenor Rafael Moras is a rising operatic star whose voice, stage presence, and ability to speak off-the-cuff and passionately with audiences has connected and captivated on stages around the world.\nIn addition to the Houston Symphony, Rafael has performed as a featured soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, San Antonio Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Amarillo Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Austin Opera, Opera Idaho, Aspen Music Festival, and San Antonio Mastersingers. He has sung across the world with Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter Chris Botti as a featured soloist in the Chris Botti in Concert global tour.\nFurther career highlights include a Seattle Opera debut as Tariq in the critically acclaimed world premiere A Thousand Splendid Suns; Don Jos\u00e9 in Carmen, the directorial debut of acclaimed mezzosoprano Denyce Graves; and debuts with Houston Grand Opera and Arizona Opera as Father Mat\u00edas in the world premiere of El Milagro del Recuerdo, Utah Opera and Holy City Arts & Lyric Opera as Alfredo in La traviata, Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera as the Duke in Rigoletto, and Arizona Opera as Zorro in its inaugural New Works Festival.\nA graduate of LA Opera\u2019s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program and The Santa Fe Opera\u2019s Apprentice Program for Singers, Rafael is a two-time recipient of The Santa Fe Opera’s Richard Tucker Fund Award, a Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition Grand Finalist, Operalia Quarter Finalist, and a two-time Eleanor McCollum Vocal Competition Finalist.\n|,|title|:|tenor (Second Jew)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Marc Molomot |,|bio|:|Possessed of a rare high-tenor voice and a winning stage persona that comfortably embraces both comedic and dramatic roles, Marc Molomot enjoys an international career and was recently named Artist of the Year by Voix des Arts.\nMarc is praised as \u201can excellent actor-singer\u201d in repertoire of all eras, winning acclaim most recently as Leonard Lev in the world premiere performances of Tobias Picker\u2019s Awakenings at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. He recently made his role debuts as Mime in Wagner\u2019s Das Rheingold in Germany, John Adams in Virgil Thomson\u2019s The Mother of us All, and Der Hauptmann in Berg\u2019s Wozzeck with the Houston Symphony. The live recording of Wozzeck was the winner of a Grammy Award and an ECHO Klassik Award.\nHis comedic talents have been showcased with performances as Adolphe de Valladolid in Offenbach\u2019s Les brigands at Op\u00e9ra Toulon and Op\u00e9ra Comique in Paris, and he was featured as Le Fils in Poulenc\u2019s Les mamelles de Tir\u00e9sias at Op\u00e9ra de Lyon and Op\u00e9ra Comique. In the baroque arena, signature roles include the title role of Purcell\u2019s King Arthur and Puck in Fairy Queen as well as Iro in Monteverdi\u2019s Il Ritorno d\u2019Ulise and Arnalta in L\u2019incoronazione di Poppea.\n|,|title|:|tenor (Third Jew)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Christopher Bozeka|,|bio|:|Tenor Christopher Bozeka is quickly becoming recognized for his \u201cbeautiful, piercing tone\u201d and \u201cexpressively captivating\u201d performances (San Francisco Chronicle). This season, he made his solo stage debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Abdallo in Nabucco, for which a featured performance was broadcast live on Sirius XM radio. Additional season highlights include the Metropolitan Opera\u2019s Grounded workshop, and he covered the roles of Otto Bader and Josef Bader in Aaron Zigman\u2019s \u00c9migr\u00e9 with the New York Philharmonic.\nChristopher is a former second place winner in Houston Grand Opera\u2019s Eleanor McCollum Competition, and he won first prize in the Metropolitan Opera National Council District Auditions in Ohio and Houston. A graduate of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, he was also a young artist with the Merola Opera Program and a three-time Filene artist at Wolf Trap Opera. He received his master\u2019s degree at the University of Cincinnati College\u2013Conservatory of Music.\n|,|title|:|tenor (Fourth Jew)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Joseph Barron|,|bio|:|Hailed by The New York Times as \u201cvocally robust\u201d and \u201clyrically malevolent,\u201d American bass-baritone Joseph Barron recently returned to the Metropolitan Opera to sing Monterone in Rigoletto and cover Swallow in Peter Grimes, and he debuted with Dallas Opera and The Atlanta Opera as Donner in Das Rheingold, as well as the Cleveland Orchestra as Happy in La fanciulla del West. This season, he returns to the San Francisco Opera to cover King Heinrich in Lohengrin, the Metropolitan Opera to cover Melitone in La forza del destino, and Finger Lakes Opera to sing Ramfis in Aida.\nJoseph has previously joined the Met for productions of Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Rigoletto, La fanciulla del West, Salome, Tannh\u00e4user, The Nose, Boris Godunov, Turandot, and The Exterminating Angel. He appeared at San Francisco Opera in the world premiere of The Gospel of Mary Magdalene and covered Leporello in Don Giovanni. He has also performed Leporello in Don Giovanni with Opera Hong Kong, Opera Philadelphia, Arizona Opera, and New Orleans. Other recent debuts include Don Pizarro in Fidelio with North Carolina Opera and the Princeton Festival, Kaspar in Der Freisch\u00fctz at Virginia Opera, and the title role of Le nozze di Figaro at Opera Carolina and Opera Grand Rapids.\nOther appearances include the Aix-en-Provence Festival and La Fenice as Polyphemus in Acis and Galatea; The Glimmerglass Festival as Ramfis in Aida, Grandpa Moss in The Tender Land, and Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro; Opera Philadelphia as Montano in Otello; Pittsburgh Opera as Masetto in Don Giovanni, Prophet\/Larry King in Dark Sisters, Alidoro in La Cenerentola, Geronimo in Il matrimonio segreto, Monterone in Rigoletto, Sprecher in Die Zauberfl\u00f6te, and The Bonze in Madama Butterfly; The Spoleto Festival as Roldano in Cavalli\u2019s Veremonda; Arizona Opera as Monterone in Rigoletto; Bard Summerscape as Basmanov in Dvo\u0159\u00e1k\u2019s Dimitrij; The Princeton Festival as Henry Kissinger in Nixon in China and Swallow in Peter Grimes; Finger Lakes Opera as Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia; and Charlottesville Opera as Colline in La boh\u00e8me.\n|,|title|:|bass-baritone (Fifth Jew)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Daniel Scofield|,|bio|:|Dramatic baritone Daniel Scofield is a two-time prize winner of The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a recipient of the Olga Forrai Foundation grant for dramatic voices in opera. He begins the 2023-24 Season with a return to the Prague State Opera for Pagliacci\u2019s Cavalleria rusticana (Tonio\/Algio) in a revival of last season’s critically acclaimed new production by Ondrej Havelka. He travels to Atlanta as a guest of the Emory University Symphony Orchestra for the Verdi Requiem and appears with the Houston Symphony in its spring production of Salome. Additional season engagements include returns to Opera Orlando for Tosca (Scarpia), Opera Baltimore for Eugene Onegin in the title role, and debuts with Fort Worth Opera for La boh\u00e8me (Marcello) and the Teatro Municipal de Santiago as Scarpia in Tosca.\n \nFuture seasons include role and company debuts at Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Staatsoper Hannover, and a return to the Prague State Opera.\n|,|title|:|bass (First Nazarene\/Cappadocian)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Navasard Hakobyan|,|bio|:|Baritone Navasard Hakobyan is the Third Prize Winner of the 2023 Operalia World Opera Competition, winner of the Don Pl\u00e1cido Domingo Ferrer Prize of Zarzuela, and top prizes at many of the world\u2019s prestigious competitions.\nAs an artist with Houston Grand Opera, he has performed Puccini\u2019s Madama Butterly as Sharpless, his role debut. He looks forward to house and role debuts as Gregorio in Romeo et Juliet with Dallas Opera and with Dresden Semperoper in the 2024-25 Season.\nPast roles include Silvio in I Pagliacci with Yerevan Opera Theater, Germon in La traviata and Antonio in Il viaggio a Reims with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, and Anchor in the Julliard-commissioned Oedipus in the District by Joshua Getman.\nNavasard is a graduate of the Armenian State Song Theater and is completing a masters\u2019 course at Yerevan Conservatory. He is a soloist of the Young Opera Singers Program of the Yerevan Opera Theater.\n|,|title|:|baritone (Second Nazarene)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Matthew Anchel|,|bio|:|Bass Matthew Anchel, called “a voice to watch” by the Wall Street Journal, has performed with many of the world\u2019s leading opera companies and orchestras. Highlights from his 2023-24 Season include singing Sarastro in The Magic Flute with Nashville Opera and returning to the Metropolitan Opera to cover Reinmar in Tannh\u00e4user and sing 2nd Armed Man in The Magic Flute.\nAn accomplished veteran of the competition circuit, Matthew was a grand finalist in the 2013 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, won third place in the Palm Beach Opera Competition, the Judges Award from the Opera Index Competition, an Encouragement Award from the George London Foundation, and was a finalist and an Encouragement Award winner in the Loren L. Zachary Competition. Born and raised in New York City, Matthew earned his Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from the Manhattan School of Music.\n|,|title|:|bass (First Soldier)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Andrew Potter|,|bio|:|Andrew Potter has garnered increasing demand across the country for his larger-than-life stage presence and voice to match. This season brings major house debuts at the Dallas Opera as Angelotti in Tosca, Detroit Opera as Hara\u0161ta in The Cunning Little Vixen, The Atlanta Opera as Quince in A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream, and the Santa Fe Opera for both Der Rosenkavalier and the world premiere of The Righteous, in which he covers Greer Grimsley\u2019s lead role of Paul. Additionally, Andrew returns to Opera Santa Barbara as Ferrando in Il trovatore, and he joins the Fort Worth Symphony as Hundig in Act I of Die Walk\u00fcre, Pacific Symphony as Colline in La boh\u00e8me, and Houston Symphony as Second Soldier in Salome.\nLast season included several important house debuts: joining Seattle Opera as Abimelech in Samson et Dalila and in its world premiere of A Thousand Splendid Suns, as well as Portland Opera as Vodnik in Rusalka. Additionally, Andrew joined Livermore Valley Opera as Belcore in L\u2019elisir d\u2019amore, performed Scarpia in Indianapolis Opera\u2019s Tosca, Don Pizarro in Fidelio with Mid-Ohio Civic Opera, returned to Opera Grand Rapids as The Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance, and to Pacific Opera Project as Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia. Other recent engagements include Simone in Gianni Schicchi for Tulsa Opera, Sarastro in The Magic Flute for Eugene Opera, Sparafucile in Rigoletto for Opera Orlando, Commendatore in Don Giovanni with Indianapolis Opera, and Ren\u00e9 in Iolanta with Pacific Opera Project. Concert engagements included Mozart’s Mass in C major for Mid-Ohio Civic Opera and Verdi\u2019s Requiem for Michigan State University.\nPrevious engagements include the title role in Don Pasquale with Opera Santa Barbara; Sam in Trouble in Tahiti with Pacific Opera Project; Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin with Livermore Valley Opera; Sulpice in The Daughter of the Regiment and Dr. Dulcamara in L\u2019elisir d\u2019amore with Winter Opera St. Louis; The Bonze in Madama Butterfly with St. Petersburg Opera; Hunding in Die Walk\u00fcre, Fafner in Das Rheingold, and Colline in La boh\u00e8me with Pittsburgh Festival Opera.\n|,|title|:|bass (Second Soldier)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Meryl Dominguez|,|bio|:|Soprano Meryl Dominguez most recently made her role debut as the title character in Maria Stuarda with Musica Viva Hong Kong; she is currently a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio program. A graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts, Music Academy of the West, Santa Fe Opera\u2019s apprentice program, and other elite training institutions, she has performed roles such as Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Violetta (La traviata), Juliette (Rom\u00e9o et Juliette), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), and Adina (L\u2019Elisir d\u2019Amore).\nEnjoying success in the competition sphere, she was a finalist with HGO\u2019s prestigious Eleanor McCollum Competition, a national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, first prize winner at Vero Beach Opera\u2019s inaugural Rising Stars competition, a career development grantee with the Sullivan Foundation, an Encouragement Award winner with The Gerda Lissner Foundation, as well as a two-time Audience Favorite winner in AVA\u2019s Giargiari Competition.\n|,|title|:|soprano (Slave)|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Adam Larsen |,|bio|:|Adam Larsen is excited to return to the Houston Symphony after previously directing Bart\u00f3k’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Stravinsky\u2019s Oedipus Rex. As a projection designer, Adam has designed more than 200 productions, including Hal Prince\u2019s LoveMusik on Broadway; Lee Breuer\u2019s The Gospel at Colonus at the Athens, Edinburgh, and Spoleto festivals; Esperanza Spalding’s 12 Little Spells national tour; David Lang’s Prisoner of the State at the NY Philharmonic; Missy Mazzoli\u2019s Breaking The Waves at Opera Philadelphia; Haruki Murakami\u2019s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle at the Singapore and Edinburgh festivals; Jan\u00e1c\u030cek\u2019s From the House of the Dead at Canadian Opera; Bernstein\u2019s Mass at the LA Phil and Lincoln Center; Britten\u2019s Peter Grimes, Bernstein\u2019s On the Town, Mussorgsky\u2019s Boris Godunov, and all ten seasons of the SoundBox series at SF Symphony.\nAdam\u2019s documentary work includes Neurotypical, about autism from the perspective of autistics, which premiered on the PBS series P.O.V.; and Undersung, about caregivers of severely disabled family members.\n|,|title|:|Creative Director|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Jim French|,|bio|:|Jim French designs lighting for a broad spectrum of performing arts and live events, with work seen in 25 countries and across North America. Major credits include San Francisco Ballet, Atlanta Opera, Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Kronos Quartet, Finnish National Ballet, Opera Parallele, Ballet Basel, Alliance Theater, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, Playwright’s Horizons, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, and Alonzo King Lines Ballet. He has lit the vertical dance company Bandaloop on structures around the globe, was the founding house-lighting designer at the SF Jazz Center and is currently the lighting supervisor at San Francisco Ballet. Jim has designed lighting for the Global Climate Action Summit, and volunteers for Dancers Responding to AIDS and Bike East Bay.\n|,|title|:|Lighting Designer|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Molly Irelan |,|bio|:|Molly Irelan is a Los Angeles-based costume designer who prides herself on a holistic approach to her work. She is formally trained in the history and construction of garments as well as costume design. Molly holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in costume history and design from the University of Redlands (2010), an associate degree in fashion design from the Art Institute of Portland (2012), and a master\u2019s in costume design from UCLA (2016).\nMolly works in stage and screen and has designed operas Elixir D\u2019Amour (2017), Il Due Figaro (2018), Cold Mountain (2019), and Onegin (2023) at the Music Academy of the West; Amadigi (2016), Orph\u00e9e (2020) at UCLA; p r i s m (2018) and Rev 23 (2020) at Prototype Festival; The Tragedy of Carmen (2022) in the Maldives; La Clemenza di Tito (2022) and Proving Up (2024) at The San Francisco Conservatory of Music; Il Due Figaro (2022) at The Handel and Haydn Society; The Central Park Five (2022),The Romance of the Rose (2023), and The Feast (2023) at Long Beach Opera; and last year\u2019s Oedipus Rex at Houston Symphony; as well as the opera miniseries desert in (2021) and feature Mirror Flores (2021).\n|,|title|:|Costume Designer |,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|James Maloof|,|bio|:|Los Angeles-based James Maloof is excited to debut with the Houston Symphony as a production and set designer. Most recently, he worked as the set designer on J.J. Abrams\u2019s upcoming show, Duster, for HBO. Other television and film work can be seen on shows such as Outer Range, First Ladies, Ghosted, and Penny Dreadful.\nJames has designed live events in Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta for productions with Beck’s 2019 tour, Deaf West Theatre, A Noise Within, The Fountain Theatre, The Public, The York Theatre, The Irish Rep, Theatrical Outfit, Dad’s Garage Theatre, and the Alliance Theatre for the Very Young. James received his MFA from UCLA School of Theatre Film and Television. He is a member of IATSE Local #800- Art Directors Guild. Visit www.maloofdesign.com to see more about his work.\n|,|title|:|Scenic Designer|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |},{|type|:|custom|,|name|:|Erin Earle Fleming|,|bio|:|Erin Earle Fleming, a lighting designer for dance, opera, and theatre, has worked extensively with Ballet Austin, Texas Ballet Theater, and Bruce Wood Dance. Internationally, she has taken shows to Hong Kong, Russia, Spain, The Dominican Republic, and Panama.\nAmong her credits are Florencia en el Amazonas (Opera de Tenerife); I am the Monument (Ballet Austin); Star Crossed (Texas Ballet Theatre); Slip Zone (Bruce Wood Dance); Los Perros del Barrio Colosal (PRISMA International Dance Festival); Tiny Beautiful Things (Boise Contemporary Theatre); La Cenerentola (Northern Lights Music Festival); UNEARTHED, A Woman\u2019s Life (Da Camera); Don Giovanni (Butler Opera Center); LORDES (The New Ohio); Fidelio (HeartBeat Opera); Three Sisters (Columbia University); Kiss (Yale Rep); Les Enfants Terribles (Butler Opera); Bus Stop (Mary Moody Northern Theatre); and Pinocchio (ZACH Theatre).\nA native Texan, Erin holds a bachelor\u2019s degree from St. Edward\u2019s University and a master\u2019s of fine arts from Yale University. She is a USA829 member. Visit www.erinearlefleming.com to learn more.\n|,|title|:|Assistant Lighting Designer|,|small_image|:| \n |,|bio_image|:| \n |,|full_image|:| \n |}],|without|:[]}
R. STRAUSS Salome