Soprano Helena Losada on Playing Pigeon and Piggie in Mo Willems’s Bite-Sized Operas!

Don’t miss your chance to see Opera to Go! live and in person!

Join HGO for the final performances of Mo Willems’s Bite-Sized Operas! at Woodlands Center on June 18, 2025 at 10 a.m., and at Emancipation Park Conservancy’s Cultural Center Building on June 25 at 11 a.m. Both shows are free. And visit HGO.org/Summer to check out our full calendar of additional free summer programming. 

Brazilian soprano Helena Losada has played some of the great operatic roles: Pamina, Adina, Alcina, and...Pigeon and Piggie!

For the past year, Losada has embodied these comic characters as a cast member in HGO’s Opera to Go! touring production for students and families: Mo Willems’s Bite-Sized Operas!, a double bill of kid-friendly shows presented at schools, libraries, and community spaces across the region throughout the season.

Children’s author and illustrator Mo Willems, working in collaboration with composer Carlos Simon, adapted these two operas from his award-winning series of picture books. In Slopera!, Losada plays the affronted Piggie, whose friend Elephant Gerald turns up his nose at her favorite food (slop, of course). In Don’t Let the Pigeon Sing Up Late!, she portrays the titular bird, who stubbornly refuses to get some shut-eye.

Losada holds music degrees from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and Boston University. She has just completed her Artist Certificate with the University of Houston, all while participating in some 54 performances of Opera to Go!

We spoke with her about her journey with music, why families should attend Opera to Go!, and her experience bringing Piggie and Pigeon to life in Mo Willems’s Bite-Sized Operas!

Tell me about yourself.

I'm Brazilian, but I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Portuguese is my first language. I also started learning Spanish before I moved to Brazil when I was 2 years old. I lived there for most of my life.

How did you know you wanted to be a performer?

I started singing with my dad when I was 3 or 4 because he sings and plays the guitar. He can pick up a bossa nova book with all the chords and play it. I started taking voice lessons when I was 13. I was between either studying music or studying Portuguese and Portuguese literature. I went with music.

What brought you to Houston and, specifically, HGO?

The program at University of Houston and my husband. He was moving here, and we were trying to find stuff that would work for both of us. I chose HGO because it's the dream job. I saw that they had this position open and that they needed someone who also spoke Spanish, which I do! I was really excited to work with kids and do outreach. I really prepared for this, especially to perform as Piggie.

What has been your most rewarding Opera to Go! experience?

Okay, there's this one that was cute because it was at a center, and they wheeled in these babies. I don't know why they brought the babies, but that was the only time we got that young of an audience. They were too cute, just sitting there and being babies!

What were the rehearsals like?

They were fun! We put the show together in two weeks, and then the following week we went out to perform. I loved working with our director Evan Tsitsias, because coming from musical theater, his approach is completely different.

Can you talk about what it’s like performing in two languages?

Once, when I said in Spanish, This show is going to be bilingual, which means I'm going to perform in both English and in Spanish, I remember hearing one kid go, ¡Gracias a Dios! Basically saying, Thank God this is going to be in Spanish! And it always reminds me of my husband, too. He moved here from Mexico when he was 10, and he didn't speak a lot of English. So, I think it's nice to have an opera that is this inclusive.

Is this the first opera you’ve performed in something aimed at a student audience?

It was the second time. The first time I did it was last year. I was an apprentice artist for the Opera San Antonio–Classical Music Institute summer program. They select four people who help with outreach and tour South Texas for three to four days at the end of the program. Now, Opera to Go! is a whole different experience since it is held throughout the year and through summer. It is fun, and I enjoy it!

What’s your perspective on performing for children compared to grown-ups?

When you're with an adult audience, you tend to be more self-conscious. I think with the kids, you really include them. The younger audiences are the best, just because they laugh more. There's a certain age where the kids are like, I'm too cool for this, you know?

Were you familiar with Mo Willems’s books?

I ended up reading them while performing the role! I think the books are really smart. My favorite one is Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! I remember, myself, having tantrums and only going to sleep after just out of exhaustion. They're very relatable, fun stories.

What kind of lessons can kids learn from Piggie and Pigeon?

I think the point of Slopera! is that Piggie really likes this slop, and she wants to share that—whatever the slop may be—with Elephant Gerald. It really hurts her when he doesn't want to try it. The message is that it's okay if you don't like the same things as other people, as long as you're respectful. You don't need to share the same likes and dislikes.

Why should families come see Mo Willems’s Bite-Sized Operas?

It's approachable and interactive, so it's a new way of seeing opera and being part of it as well. Every time we go out and ask, Who knows these characters?, every kid raises their hand. It's fun to see these characters from a book come alive in front of you and sing. I think it's really nice how the composer, Carlos Simon, condensed the essence of opera into these two bite-sized operas. There are a lot of cool musical elements that make you think of the big operas.