Houston Grand Opera Announces New Album: Jake Heggie, Gene Scheer, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s Intelligence

Full recording of company-commissioned world-premiere opera to be released on August 29, 2025, with first single available starting today

HOUSTON—July 25, 2025—Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is proud to announce the release of a new album: a recording of composer Jake Heggie, librettist Gene Scheer, and director/choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s Intelligence, the critically acclaimed, company-commissioned opera which made its season-opening world premiere at Houston’s Wortham Theater Center in October 2023.

Capturing a tour-de-force performance from an acclaimed cast and the HGO Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Kwamé Ryan, the recording is the first release from the new Houston Grand Opera label, created with London Symphony Orchestra’s pioneering label LSO Live, as part of a new distribution partnership announced this spring. The full album will be available on August 29, 2025, with its first single, “Elizabeth Aria: Look me in the eye,” available to stream starting today.

“This is a story of gripping power, shared through a sweeping, genre-defying, unmistakably American score by the brilliant Jake Heggie—arguably the most influential living composer shaping today’s operatic repertoire,” says HGO General Director and CEO Khori Dastoor. “It is fitting that Intelligence will be Houston Grand Opera’s first release with LSO Live, as we have established this new partnership with the objective of sharing world-class recordings of American masterpieces with global audiences.”

“I’m overjoyed that this magnificent recording of Intelligence will soon be available tolisteners everywhere,” says Jake Heggie. “Drawn from our unforgettable world premiere performances at Houston Grand Opera, the album captures a dream cast and the exceptional HGO Orchestra under the baton of Kwamé Ryan. This opera was eight years in the making, and HGO believed in it every step of the way—investing in a story that’s not only urgent and uplifting, but vital to our national conversation. Thanks to HGO’s bold vision and leadership, Intelligence can now reach audiences around the world as part of the broader cultural dialogue about who gets remembered, and why.”

Set in Richmond, Virginia, during the Civil War, Intelligence shares the suspense-filled, little-known true story of two unlikely spies: Elizabeth Van Lew, from a prominent Confederate family, and Mary Jane Bowser, born into slavery in the Van Lew household. After Elizabeth sends Mary Jane on a dangerous mission to gather intelligence for the Unioninside the Confederate White House, the two change not only the course of history, but also that of their own lives.

The recording showcases powerhouse performances from the opera’s sensational cast, led by mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as Elizabeth and soprano Janai Brugger as Mary Jane, with mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges as Lucinda, baritone Michael Mayes as Travis Briggs, soprano Caitlin Lynch as Callie Van Lew, bass-baritone Nicholas Newton as Henry, and tenor Joshua Blue as Wilson.

Reviews of the 2023 world-premiere opera celebrated it as “a night of big sounds, big movements, and big emotions” (San Francisco Classical Voice), “an absolutely beautiful opera” (Axios), and “a groundbreaking masterpiece” (Houston Chronicle), highlighting the production’s “dramatically compelling cast” (Dallas Morning News) and “the exemplary performance of the HGO Orchestra” (OperaWire).

The new Intelligence album will be available in both physical and digital formats, withstreaming offered via HGO’s partner platform, Apple Music Classical—Apple Music’s dedicated app for classical music fans—as well as major platforms including Amazon Music and Spotify.

HGO’s Intelligence recording is part of the company’s renewed focus on building and sharing its catalogue of recordings—both new and remastered—of major performances and company-commissioned additions to the repertoire. Several more albums are already planned for release by the Houston Grand Opera label, including Daniel Catán and Marcela Fuentes-Berain’s HGO-commissioned opera Florencia en el Amazonas, the first ever recording of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Breaking the Waves, and Javier Martínez and Leonard Foglia’s HGO-commissioned mariachi opera El Milagro del Recuerdo.

The commission of Intelligence was made possible by the support of Sara and Bill Morgan. The opera was recorded thanks to the generosity of Nabors Industries and Robert A. Ellis.