Monday Night Opera
Monday Night Opera is a series of live conversations open to HGO patrons.
Monday Night Opera is a fascinating series of Zoom-streamed conversations led by HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers and Dramaturg Jeremy Johnson. The conversations take the form of webinars, interviews, and lectures featuring world-class creative team members, artists, and HGO staff members that take audiences behind the scenes to get exclusive insights into HGO’s upcoming programming.
Interact with world-class creative team members, artists, and HGO’s own technical and music staff as they open up their opera playbooks to share exclusive insights into each fantastic HGO mainstage production.
The following is an archive of previously recorded sessions. If you are interested in joining us live for upcoming conversations, please contact donorservices@hgo.org for more information.
2022
Turandot Creative Discussion - April 25, 2022
View this weeks Monday Night Opera session on our HGO Digital platform. If you do not have an account, it is easy to sign up for your free account Click the link below to go to HGO Digital:
Opera History 203 - February 28, 2022
Dramaturg Jeremy Johnson will take us through the development of verismo opera and the works of the late 19th century Italian authorities on opera.
The Art of Art Song Recitals - January 31, 2022
Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers interviews three of our HGO Digital Live from The Cullen recitalists: soprano Tamara Wilson, whose recital opened our 2020-21 HGO Digital season; soprano Michelle Bradley, whose recital will be released Friday, April 8; and bass-baritone Federico De Michelis, whose recital will be released Friday, May 13.
Opera History 202 - January 10, 2022
Dramaturg Jeremy Johnson will take us through the origins of opera in Russia, from the earliest imported Italian works to the birth of a national Russian artform in the 19th century.
2021
Opera History 201 - October 25, 2021
Hansel and Gretel - May 17, 2021
Unwrapped - Hansel and Gretel - May 10, 2021
Opera Greats with David Gockley - May 3, 2021
Marian's Song - April 26, 2021
Unwrapped - Marian's Song - April 19, 2021
Opera History 105 - April 5, 2021
Suite Espanola - March 22, 2021
Historical Voice Technique - March 8, 2021
This week’s Monday Night Opera is a casual discussion with HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers and HGO Dramaturg Jeremy Johnson. Join them for a thought-provoking dialogue on historical singers, the different schools of singing technique, and how they trace over the generations to opera’s stars today.
Art and Activism - March 1, 2021
This week’s Monday Night Opera is a rescheduled program, cancelled during Winter Storm Uri. This program takes a look at one reason why artists do what they do, in a contextual look at our February release of Jake Heggie and Margaret Atwood’s new song cycle for baritone Joshua Hopkins. Join HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers as he interviews the Executive Director of the Rothko Chapel, David Leslie, and the Director of the Menil Collection, Rebecca Rabinow, about the life and activism of Dominique de Menil, and the role art plays not just in our lives, but in our communities.
Opera Greats - February 22, 2021
This week’s Monday Night Opera is a lunchtime special where we spotlight two of the greatest singers in opera’s history, Frederica von Stade and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. Join HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers as he interviews these opera greats on their lives and careers.
Opera Trivia: Wild Card - February 8, 2021
Meet the Concert of Arias Finalists - February 1, 2021
Meet this year's Concert of Arias finalists.
Chamber vs. Grand - January 25, 2021
This Monday Night Opera is a casual discussion with HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers and HGO Dramaturg Jeremy Johnson with breakout rooms and lively conversation about an opera topic Patrick and Jeremy enjoy pondering. Join them for a thought-provoking and interactive dialogue on the nature of grand opera versus chamber opera.
Giving Voice - January 18, 2021
This Monday Night Opera previews January’s digital release of our second annual Giving Voice concert. Join HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers as he interviews special guests Nicole Heaston, Karen Slack, and Donnie Ray Albert on their careers, Black music and artistry in the opera industry, and HGO’s commitment to equity and diversity.
Opera History 104: Romanticism - January 11, 2021
This Monday Night Opera continues our Opera History 100 series. Join HGO Dramaturg Jeremy Johnson as he discusses the aesthetics and characteristics of the Romantic period of opera composition, and how the operatic tradition evolved from the Classical era into the 19th-century classics that make up much of opera’s standard repertoire.
2020
The Snowy Day - December 7, 2020
This week’s Monday Night Opera is a special interview about the life and work of composer Joel Thompson, the brilliant young composer of HGO’s upcoming world premiere, The Snowy Day. Join HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers as he interviews Joel on the creation of his first opera, the choral works that started Joel’s path as a composer, and what Joel has coming up in his skyrocketing career.
Ezra Jack Keats - November 30, 2020
The Snowy Day, the beloved children’s book by Ezra Jack Keats, broke barriers when it was published in 1962. The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, led by its director Deborah Pope, has continued Keats’s legacy and tradition, in part by promoting diversity in children’s literature through the Ezra Jack Keats Award for writers and illustrators. Deborah is joined by The Snowy Day librettist and children’s book author Andrea Davis Pinkney and her husband, illustrator Brian Pinkney, in this interview with HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers.
The Impresario - November 23, 2020
Mozart’s one-act Singspiel The Impresario has been translated, re-translated, and updated dozens—if not hundreds—of times over the last 250 years. Join HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers as he interviews playwright Jim Luigs and director E. Loren Meeker on this brand-new script and story created specifically for HGO Digital.
Bon Appétit! - November 16, 2020
This Monday Night Opera features two special guests, alums of the HGO Studio and superstar singers Jamie Barton and Ryan McKinny. The two teamed up to design the release of Bon Appetit!, a monodrama sung by Jamie and directed for film by Ryan. Join HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers as he interviews them about this project and their careers since leaving the HGO Studio.
Opera Unwrapped: The Impresario and Bon Appétit! - November 9, 2020
Take a look at our next digital release: a double bill of Mozart’s The Impresario in a new script by Jim Luigs, and Lee Hoiby’s Bon Appétit!, a one-woman masterpiece about Julia Child baking the perfect chocolate cake.
Opera History 103: Classical Era - October 26, 2020
HGO Dramaturg Jeremy Johnson takes an in-depth look at the late 18th-century Classical repertoire and how it bridges the era between Baroque opera and Romantic opera.
Vinkensport - October 19, 2020
This session focuses on David T. Little and Royce Vavrek’s comic one-act, Vinkensport, which aired on HGO Digital on Oct. 23. HGO Artistic & Music Director Patrick Summers interviewed David T. Little and Royce Vavrek’s about their uproarious piece. For more information on Vinkensport, click here.
Opera Trivia - October 5, 2020
Patrons put their opera knowledge to the test at HGO Opera Trivia Night.
Opera History 102: Late Baroque - September 29, 2020
Join HGO Dramaturg Jeremy Johnson as he continues his Opera History series, this time looking at the late Baroque operas of the late 17th- and early 18th-centuries and their transition to the Classical repertoire.
Studio Artist Training - September 21, 2020
Preview the September 25 HGO Digital release of our popular annual event, Studio Showcase, an evening of operatic scenes highlighting the special talents of each of our 2020–21 Studio artists. Join HGO Artistic & Music Director Patrick Summers as he interviews StudioDirector Brian Speck and newly-appointed Studio Music Director Miah Im during a conversation about young artist training.
Opera Trivia - September 14, 2020
Patrons put their opera knowledge to the test at HGO Opera Trivia Night.
HGO Open Forum - August 31, 2020
Join Perryn Leech and HGO Artistic & Music Director Patrick Summers for a preview of HGO Digital – Sarah and Ernest Butler Performance Series, the virtual series we’re planning for the upcoming season. Following a brief preview of the season, Patrick and Perryn will open the floor to the questions and comments you have for HGO.
An Evening with Patrick Summers - August 24, 2020
The Role of the Music Director - August 17, 2020
Patrick Summers talks with a panel of music directors on the various roles they play in season planning, casting, and conducting throughout the country.
Opera History 101 - August 10, 2020
Jeremy Johnson lectures on the origins of opera in the Early Baroque and the first major opera composer, Claudio Monteverdi.
Technical Wizardry - August 3, 2020
Perryn Leech talks about the magic of live theater with a panel of technical artists that specialize in bringing opera to life on stage.
Radio Unwrapped - July 27, 2020
Jeremy Johnson hosts an Opera Unwrapped style lecture on the next four operas in HGO’s weekly radio broadcasts: The Merry Widow, Lucia di Lammermoor, Ariadne auf Naxos, and A Masked Ball.
Houston’s Prima Donna - July 20, 2020
Patrick Summers interviews world-renowned soprano Ana María Martínez on her long and storied history with HGO—from Studio artist to her current position as Artistic Advisor, she has performed the highest number of leading roles in the company’s history.
Conducting Memories - July 13, 2020
Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers talks about the art of conducting and the influence of his late friend and mentor, Australian conductor Sir Charles Mackerras.
COVID and the Opera Industry - July 6, 2020
Perryn Leech sits down with members of HGO’s Health Advisory Committee to discuss the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the opera industry.
Radio Unwrapped - June 29, 2020
Dramaturg Jeremy Johnson hosts an Opera Unwrapped style lecture on the next four operas in HGO’s weekly radio broadcasts: La Traviata, Falstaff, Arabella, and Samson and Delilah.
The Sound of Music - June 22, 2020
Featuring the President of Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization Ted Chapin
Breaking The Waves - June 15, 2020
Featuring composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek
Featuring composer Nell Shaw Cohen and librettist Megan Cohen
Featuring Emily D’Angela (Cinderella) and Jack Swanson (Prince Ramiro)
Featuring HGO Director of Artistic Operations/Chorus Master Richard Bado, hosted by Patrick Summers
Featuring composer Joel Thompson and librettist Andrea Davis Pinkney, hosted by Patrick Summers
Featuring HGO Technical and Safety Director Josh McIntosh and Assistant Technical Director Joey Farley, hosted by Perryn Leech
Featuring director Rob Ashford and soprano Isabel Leonard (Carmen), hosted by Perryn Leech and Patrick Summers