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#THE SNOWY DAY HOUSTON GRAND OPERA PLUS#

Eugene Rogers and won the 2018 American Prize for Choral Composition Thompson and Rogers won an Emmy Award for a documentary about the work in 2017. Seven Last Words was premiered in November 2015 by the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club and Dr. In addition to The Snowy Day, Thompson is best known for the choral work, Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, which commemorates the lives of seven Black men killed at the hands of police or authority figures. I cannot wait to see what he creates when he returns to Houston to spend the next five years with HGO, which I am proud to say has become his home company.” I am thrilled that as HGO’s new Composer-in-Residence, Joel will receive the support and resources that only this industry-leading company can provide, so that he can continue to expand his astonishingly prodigious gifts. “I knew within 30 seconds of hearing Joel’s orchestral work that I was in the presence of a rare compositional voice. “The memory is indelible,” Summers recalls. HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers got to know Thompson, and brought him on board for The Snowy Day, after hearing his music in 2017 at the Aspen Music Festival. Based on the barrier-breaking 1963 Caldecott Medal-winning children’s book by Ezra Jack Keats, the HGO-commissioned work made its world premiere at the Wortham Theater Center on Decemand enjoyed a successful nine-performance run. In a historic first, HGO livestreamed the opera’s opening night, attracting viewers in 34 different countries. He wrote his acclaimed first opera, The Snowy Day, with librettist Andrea Davis Pinkney. Thompson’s compositions incorporate a wide range of influences into a sound that is uniquely his own, from Afro-Caribbean rhythms, to Black American jazz, gospel, and blues, to Rachmaninoff and Ravel. These original compositions will premiere at HGO, and advance the company’s fundamental mission of supporting the creation of relevant, vibrant new works that speak directly to this community and attract new audiences to the art form.

#THE SNOWY DAY HOUSTON GRAND OPERA PLUS#

Over the course of his five-year tenure with HGO, Thompson plans to compose a major mainstage commission, plus a set of smaller-scale original works, informed thematically by his collaborations with the people who live here. Initiatives will include forming music-based educational partnerships with schools and non-profits and identifying and mentoring homegrown composers, librettists, and other artists and creatives who, in turn, will help him forge the path forward.

He will serve as a member of the company’s artistic leadership, in charge of expanding and deepening the company’s relationship with the greater Houston community.

#THE SNOWY DAY HOUSTON GRAND OPERA FULL#

We are confident that Joel’s artistic contributions are making the world a better place, and we can’t wait to see and hear what he will do next.”Īs Composer-in-Residence for HGO, Thompson will live and work in Houston full time. “We are thrilled for Joel to be joining the artistic leadership of HGO, a company whose commitment to discovery, innovation, and excellence is well-known.

“This position was created for Joel because he is one of the most brilliant minds of his generation, a transformative artist that is redefining the future of opera and expanding its reach,” states HGO General Director and CEO Khori Dastoor. His five-year residency with HGO begins on August 1, 2022. The company has recruited Thompson to Houston after commissioning and staging the 2021 world premiere of his first opera, The Snowy Day. Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is proud to announce the appointment of rising star Joel Thompson as the first full-time Composer-in-Residence in its history.

Composer of The Snowy Day, HGO’s 71st world premiere, returns to Houston for a new five-year appointment

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