Benjamin Britten

On April 25, 2008, as Houston Grand Opera opens the curtain on Neil Armfield's insightful production of Billy Budd, we inaugurate a five-year series of performances of the works of Benjamin Britten.

Benjamin Britten believed passionately that culture in its deepest and broadest sense must be part of the fabric of our daily lives. His work forms a critical link in the chain of operatic development from Monteverdi through our own time,  and speaks to us in a way that is urgent and prescient, just as the humanistic operas of Mozart and Handel unveil new insights to every generation. As an opera company that has invested so deeply in the music of our own time, it is important for HGO to take a long look at Britten: at his depth as a composer, thinker, teacher and as a kind of evangelist for the idea that music is useful and relevant to all.

On these pages of our website, we will gather and present articles and materials that illuminate Britten's life, work and legacy, along with a record of our company's experience with that legacy. We are grateful to the Britten-Pears Foundation for its assistance with this undertaking. We hope that you will bookmark these pages and visit often.

Patrick Summers
Music Director, Houston Grand Opera

Patrick Summers at Britten's Crag House in Aldeburgh photo: Douglas Atfield	Crag House, around 1950	Rehearsal of HGO's production of Billy Budd photos: Susan Carlyle