The Sixth Annual
February 28, 2025 | 7:30 P.M. WHEELER AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH
Presented by Houston Grand Opera and Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church
Joel Thompson
VOICE
WITHIN STORIES THROUGH SONG
A world-premiere song cycle from HGO
Composer-in-Residence Joel Thompson and librettist Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, based on oral histories of Black Houstonians
Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton
TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2025. 7 P.M. EMANCIPATION PARK CONSERVANCY. $25
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WELCOME TO GIVING VOICE!
Houston Grand Opera is now on its sixth year celebrating Black artists in opera with a joyful evening of song—and it has been clear from day one that you cannot talk about their storied legacy without paying tribute to our historically Black colleges and universities. These institutions are pillars of musical excellence and vital training grounds for the best and brightest in the field.
We are thrilled to welcome tonight’s emcee, Dr. Ruth J. Simmons, a Distinguished Presidential Fellow at Rice University, Adviser to the President of Harvard University on HBCU Initiatives, and graduate of Dillard University, whose impressive career includes service as President of Brown University, Prairie View A&M University, and Smith College.
It is also our honor to host the exceptional choirs from Texas Southern University and Jackson State University, who will be performing alongside our wonderful partners at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, Voices of Houston, and the Houston Ebony Opera Guild.
A group of outstanding soloists will perform for you in the Cathedral this evening, accompanied by the esteemed Kevin J. Miller at the piano. Be prepared for the talents of soprano Elizabeth Hanje and bass-baritone Sam Dhobhany, both current members of our Butler Studio program, to take your breath away.
We are delighted to welcome fabulous dramatic tenor Issachah Savage back to Houston a decade after he made his company debut as Radamés in Verdi’s Aida. Finally, one of our soloists likely needs no introduction, as he is not only a Butler Studio alumnus and HGO favorite but a longtime member of the WABC congregation: Grammy Award-winning baritone Reginald Smith, Jr. We are in for quite a treat!
Historic Black institutions and organizations have done much to make Giving Voice, the brainchild of revered tenor Lawrence Brownlee, a resounding success. Brownlee drew on his Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity network to fill the Wortham for the first-ever concert, back in early 2020. Other headliners joined him, among them beloved soprano and Houstonian Nicole Heaston, who encouraged her local Delta Sigma Theta and Links, Inc. chapters to come out.
And Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church—home to Giving Voice since 2023, and a congregation that counts a multitude of HBCU graduates and Divine 9 members in its numbers—is the reason the concert has enjoyed a total audience of 50,000 people, in person and online, over the last two years alone.
This is a community that not only defines excellence, but shows up for one another, time and time again, supporting artists at every stage of their careers while pushing the entire art form of opera forward. We are so grateful to them, and to all of you gathered here with us in the Cathedral, ready to join in an evening of world-class music-making.
Khori Dastoor
General Director and CEO, Houston Grand Opera
Margaret Alkek Williams Chair
APR. 25–MAY 11
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WELCOME TO THE SIXTH ANNUAL
GIVING VOICE FROM WHEELER AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH!
Dr. Marcus D. Cosby
PROGRAM
Welcome
Lift Every Voice and Sing J. Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954) arr. Roland Carter
From Lyric Suite V. Juba: Ev’rytime I Feel the Spirit!
Robert L. Morris (b.1941)
“Signore, ascolta!” from Turandot Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
“Non più andrai” from Le nozze di Figaro
“Siegmund heiß’ ich” from Die Walküre
Measure Me, Sky!
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Jonathan Reid (b.1991)
Hold On!
Give Me a Clean Heart
The Word Was God
Porgy and Bess: Choral Highlights
arr. Marques L.A. Garrett (b.1984)
Margaret Douroux (b.1941) arr. Stacey V. Gibbs
Sr. Pastor Rev. Dr. Marcus D. Cosby
Khori Dastoor
Giving Voice Choir
Dr. Gloria Quinlan, Conductor
Kevin J. Miller, Piano
Reginald Smith, Jr., Baritone
Kevin J. Miller, Piano
Elizabeth Hanje, Soprano
Kevin J. Miller, Piano
Sam Dhobhany, Bass-Baritone
Kevin J. Miller, Piano
Issachah Savage, Tenor
Kevin J. Miller, Piano
Voices of Houston
Christopher C. Carter, Conductor
Rolethial McKelvey, Piano
Voices of Houston
Christopher C. Carter, Conductor
Texas Southern University Choir
Ashton Denzel Jones, Conductor
Rosephanye Powell (b.1962) Jackson State University Chorale
Dr. Harry Cecil, Conductor
“Oh, Lawd Jesus, heah my prayer” from The Emperor Jones
George Gershwin (1898-1937) arr. Douglas E. Wagner
Louis Gruenberg (1884-1964)
Elizabeth Hanje, Soprano
Sam Dhobhany, Bass-Baritone
Giving Voice Choir
Gregory D. McDaniel, Conductor
Kevin J. Miller, Piano
Reginald Smith, Jr., Baritone
Kevin J. Miller, Piano
PROGRAM
A City Called Heaven Traditional Spiritual Issachah Savage, Tenor
You Must Have That True Religion arr. Roland Carter (b.1942) Giving Voice Choir
Dr. Gloria Quinlan, Conductor
Kevin J. Miller, Piano
Following tonight’s performance, please join us in the Atrium for a fellowship reception.
GIVING VOICE SPONSORS
GRAND UNDERWRITERS
The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts
Myrtle Jones
UNDERWRITER
Joan and Stanford Alexander Family Fund
WHO’S WHO
Ruth J. Simmons EMCEE
Dr. Ruth J. Simmons is a Distinguished Presidential Fellow at Rice University and Adviser to the President of Harvard University on HBCU Initiatives. She served as President of Prairie View A&M University until March 2023 and was President of Brown University from 2001-12 and Smith College from 1995-2001. Under her leadership, Prairie View was reclassified as an R-2 Research University and Brown made significant strides in improving its standing as one of the world’s finest research universities. At Smith, she launched a number of important academic initiatives, including an engineering program, the first at
SPONSORS
Charlos Ward
The Fort Bend County (TX) Chapter of the Links, Incorporated
an American women’s college. A French professor before entering university administration, President Simmons held an appointment as a Professor of Comparative Literature and Africana Studies at Brown. After completing her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard, she served in various faculty and administrative roles at the University of Southern California, Princeton University, and Spelman College. Simmons is the recipient of many honors, including a Fulbright Fellowship to France, the 2001 President’s Award from the United Negro College Fund, the 2002 Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, the 2004 Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal, the Foreign Policy Association Medal, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and the Centennial Medal from Harvard University. She has received over 40 honorary degrees from universities around the world and serves on numerous boards locally and nationally. She received the Brown faculty’s highest
WHO’S WHO
honor, the Susan Colver Rosenberger Medal, in 2011 and was honored by the Prairie View faculty in 2022. In 2012, she was named a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor. In 2024, she was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Joe Biden.
Lawrence Brownlee FOUNDER, GIVING VOICE
Tenor Lawrence Brownlee is a leading figure in opera, both as a singer on the world’s top stages, and as a voice for activism and diversity in the industry. In addition to creating and performing in HGO’s Giving Voice concert series, Brownlee has performed lead roles in HGO’s La favorite (2020), The Pearl Fishers (2019), The Abduction from the Seraglio (2017), The Italian Girl in Algiers (2012), The Barber of Seville (2011), and La Cenerentola (2007). In the 2024-25 season, Brownlee made his highly anticipated role debut in the title role of Mozart’s Mitridate, re di ponto with Boston Lyric Opera. He also returns to The Metropolitan Opera as Count Amaviva in The Barber of Seville (broadcast Live in HD in theaters worldwide) and joins Opéra national de Paris as Tonio in La fille du régiment and Arturo in I puritani, as well as The New National Theatre in Tokyo as Count Almaviva, and Bavarian State Opera as Tonio. During the 2023-24 season, Brownlee’s engagements included the role of Tonio with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Count Almaviva at Vienna State Opera, and Oreste in Ermione at Washington National Opera. Brownlee is a Distinguished Visiting Faculty Member at The Juilliard School, the Artistic Advisor for Opera Philadelphia, and an Ambassador for Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Lyric Unlimited as well as Opera for Peace. He is a winner of numerous awards and distinctions including “Male Singer of the Year” (2017 International Opera Awards), the Kennedy Center’s Marian Anderson Award, and the OPERA NEWS Award (2021).
Reginald Smith, Jr. BARITONE
Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio alumnus Reginald Smith, Jr. has performed at HGO in roles including the title character in Falstaff (2023), Pascoe in The Wreckers (2022); Amonasro in Aida (2020); Bonze in Madame Butterfly, Speaker of the Temple, Priest, and Armored Man in outdoor performances of The Magic Flute, and Speaker in selected mainstage performances of The Magic Flute (all 2015); Dancaïre in Carmen and Marullo in Rigoletto (2014); and Blind in Die Fledermaus (2013). He appeared with the company in Giving Voice in 2020 and gave a Live from The Cullen recital with Richard Bado for HGO Digital in 2021. Smith’s 2024-25 season includes the roles of Scarpia in Tosca at the New Orleans Opera, Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana with the Sacramento Philharmonic, and Porgy in Porgy and Bess at the Washington National Opera. During the 2023-24 season, Smith sang the role of Amonasro in Aida and Emile Griffith in Terence Blanchard’s Champion at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In summer 2023, he made his Santa Fe Opera debut as Scarpia in Tosca. The Grammy and Emmy-winning baritone was the 2021 U.S. representative at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competitions and a Grand Finals winner of the 2015 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He received a 2015 Sarah Tucker Study Grant and a 2016 Career Grant from the Sullivan Foundation.
WHO’S WHO
Issachah Savage TENOR
Issachah Savage made his HGO debut as Radamès in Aida in 2013. He has firmly established himself as one of today’s most impressive young heldentenors, making recently acclaimed debuts as Siegmund in Die Walküre with Opéra National de Bordeaux, Froh in Das Rheingold with Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Tannhäuser at Los Angeles Opera, and Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos at both Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse and Seattle Opera. During the 2023-24 season, Savage returned to Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse in his debut as Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten, sang Narraboth in concert performances of Salome with Houston Symphony Orchestra, joined Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra for Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, and sang Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Recent and upcoming engagements include performing as Der Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten at The Metropolitan Opera and the title character in a concert adaptation of Omar’s Journey, the Pulitzer Prize-winning work by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, with Quad City Symphony Orchestra, in addition to joining both New Jersey Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Savage swept the board of top prizes at the Seattle International Wagner Competition in 2014. He has received prestigious awards, recognition, and career grants from institutions including the Wagner Societies of New York, Washington, D.C., and Northern California; the Licia Albanese International Puccini Foundation; and the Olga Forrai and Gerda Lissner Foundations. He was honored in the early stages of his career development as the first-ever Scholar Artist of the Marian Anderson Society of Philadelphia.
Elizabeth Hanje
SOPRANO
Ms. Marty Dudley / Amy and Mark Melton / Jeff Stocks and Juan Lopez Fellow
First-year Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio artist Elizabeth Hanje, a Tanzanian-American soprano from Vestavia Hills, Alabama, was the first-place winner at HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. She is a 2022 alumna of HGO’s Young Artist Vocal Academy and a 2023 alumna of the Des Moines Metro Opera Apprentice Program. In fall 2024, she made her mainstage debut with HGO as Ines in Il trovatore. At Oberlin Conservatory, her roles have included Ernestina in L’occasione fa il ladro, Comedian in Matthew Recio’s The Puppy Episode, and Lyra in Melissa Dunphy’s Alice Tierney, as well as performing in the chorus of Acis and Galatea. In April 2022, she performed the role of Lyra in Alice Tierney in her debut with Opera Columbus. Hanje has sung in masterclasses with director Michael Capasso, soprano Christine Goerke, mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, and soprano Harolyn Blackwell. She is a winner of the 2023 Duncan Williams Voice Competition and the 2022 George Shirley Vocal Competition. In 2021, she received the Richard Miller Award for Fine Singing and a YoungArts Award. In spring 2024, she received her Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory.
Sam Dhobhany
BASS-BARITONE
Dian and Harlan Stai Fellow
First-year Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio artist Sam Dhobhany, from Brooklyn, New York, received the
WHO’S WHO
Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award at HGO’s 2024
Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. He is a 2022 alumnus of HGO’s Young Artist Vocal Academy. In fall 2024 for HGO, he made his company debut as Alidoro in HGO Family Day Presents Cinderella ; other roles this season include Customs Officer in La bohème and Terry in Breaking the Waves. In summer 2024, he returned to Santa Fe Opera as an apprentice artist, where his roles included Marchese d’Obigny in La traviata and covering Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love and The Notary in Der Rosenkavalier
In 2024, Dhobhany sang the role of Angelotti in Tosca with Dayton Opera and the title role in The Marriage of Figaro at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. In summer 2023, Dhobhany was an apprentice artist with Santa Fe Opera, where he covered and sang the role of Un Médecin in Pelléas et Mélisande and covered 2nd Spirit/5th Pastore in L’Orfeo. In the summer of 2021, he joined Wolf Trap Opera’s Studio Artist Program, where he covered the role of Doctor Grenvil in La traviata. Dhobhany was the second place winner in the 2024 Rocky Mountain Region of The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Kevin J. Miller PIANO
American pianist and collaborator
Kevin J. Miller is acclaimed for his dynamically artful performances.
As a former assistant conductor with HGO, he served on the music staff for a number of mainstage operas, including La traviata and Werther during the company’s 2022-23 season, in addition to performing at Giving Voice in both 2022 and 2023. Recent collaborations include a recital with international tenor Lawrence Brownlee at Carnegie Hall, counter-
tenor John Holiday at the Kennedy Center and The Barbican in London, and Joseph Calleja and Nadine Sierra at the Supreme Court of the United States, as well as an appearance with Mr. Calleja on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series. Miller prepared soprano Jessye Norman for performances of Laura Karpman’s production of Ask Your Mama, which was performed at Carnegie Hall. He also collaborated with countertenor David Daniels in a recital at the Glimmerglass Festival. He can be heard on piano on the recording Been in da Storm So Long, which features baritone Kenneth Overton. Miller has a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano from the Mannes College of Music, and a Master of Music degree and Artist Diploma in Collaborative Piano from the University of Michigan School of Music.
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera is one of the largest, most innovative, and most highly acclaimed opera companies in the United States. General Director and CEO Khori Dastoor assumed leadership of the organization and responsibility for its strategic vision in 2021. HGO was the only American finalist for Opera Company of the Year in the 2019 International Opera Awards, and the only American company to be nominated twice. In fulfilling its mission to advance the operatic art, to serve the Houston community, and to be a global leader in the future of opera, HGO has led the field in commissioning and producing new works (76 world premieres to date) and in training and nurturing promising young artists and administrators. The company contributes to the cultural enrichment of Houston and the nation through a diverse and innovative program of performances, community events, and education projects that reaches the widest possible public. HGO’s pioneering Community and Learning initiative has served as a model for other arts organizations. The company invites all Houstonians to experience superlative opera without
the barrier of price through discounted single tickets and subscriptions, subsidized student performances, and free productions. HGO has toured extensively and has won a Tony, two Grammy awards, and three Emmy awards. It is the only opera company to win all three honors.
Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church
Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, founded in 1962 by 13 friends at Texas Southern University, today has more than 18,000 members. Rev. Dr. Marcus D. Cosby, Senior Pastor—the successor to the Founding Pastor Emeritus, Rev. William A. Lawson—has led the congregation since 2004. Leon C. Lewis serves as Minister of Music/ Director of Worship & Fine Arts, under the leadership of Dr. Cosby. The church, a leader in the Civil Rights Movement that early on welcomed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is located in Houston’s Third Ward. Its mission is to be a worshiping, witnessing, and welcoming congregation committed to a spirit of excellence in the praise of Almighty God through Jesus Christ; the Christian Education of children, youth, and adults for maturation in the faith; and worldwide ministry for the promotion of peace and justice in every aspect of life. The church opened its new worship and Christian Education edifice in 2021.
Voices of Houston
Founded in 2019, Voices of Houston is a choral ensemble building community through the performance and practice of the Negro Spiritual. Its mission is to prepare individuals to be artistic participants in the development of community and mutual wellness through collective raising of voice in the time-tested tradition of the Negro Spiritual. Educator, musician, and servant leader Christopher C. Carter, who is dedicated to using music to propel positive social change, is the Founder
WHO’S WHO
and Artistic Director of Voices of Houston. In this capacity, he structures programs, directs recruiting and retention campaigns, and partners with the Leadership Team to develop significant musical experiences.
Houston Ebony Opera Guild
The Houston Ebony Opera Guild, a company of classical singers based in Houston’s African American community, is committed to the expansion of opportunities for participation in and exposure to opera, traditional Negro Spirituals, and other classical music genres. Founded by the late Dr. Robert A. Henry (1916-96), the Guild presented occasional concerts in Houston and elsewhere during the late 1980s. During its early years, HEOG was well known nationally for the large number of outstanding, professional soloists included in its membership. Through its parent body, Houston Ebony Music Society, Inc., the Guild became a formal, tax-exempt organization in 1992 and produced Porgy and Bess, its very first opera, which featured an all-local cast. Since then, productions have included superb artists from Houston and around the U.S. Today, the Guild is acclaimed by audiences and critics for its productions. For the past 15 years, Dr. Jason Oby has served as the Artistic Director of the HEOG.
Texas Southern University
Founded in 1927, Texas Southern University (TSU) is one of the nation’s largest historically Black universities, renowned for its commitment to excellence and innovation. With more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs, a diverse faculty, and over 80 student organizations, TSU provides a dynamic and enriching academic environment. In Spring 2024, TSU welcomed its 14th president, James
WHO’S WHO
W. Crawford III, ushering in a new era of leadership. While originally founded to educate African Americans, TSU has grown into one of the most diverse institutions in Texas, serving a global community of more than 8,900 students. Housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences, the Department of Music at TSU has a long-standing reputation for excellence in performance and education. The TSU choir has a distinguished history of noted performances across the U.S. at institutions such as Yale University, Howard University, the San Francisco Conservatory, and many more. Internationally, the choir has toured Europe, performing in Holland, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Italy. Under the direction of Dr. Jason Oby and by invitation of the Chinese government, the group performed a 10-concert tour in Beijing as a part of the Meet in Beijing Festival. The choir has performed with major symphonies, including the Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, and Corpus Christi Symphony, presenting renowned works such as Messiah, Porgy and Bess, Tosca, Candide, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. American lyric baritone and TSU alumnus Ashton Denzel Jones serves as the university’s Director of Choral Activities.
Jackson State University
Since its founding in 1877, Jackson State University has been a proud HBCU, serving a diverse population of students and carrying out its motto of challenging minds and changing lives. JSU is one of the leading HBCUs in the country for overall academics, and its STEM program is ranked #5 by the National Institutes of Health. The Chorale is the premiere choral ensemble at JSU. This ensemble performs music in a diverse array of styles and genres, including classical, contemporary, gospel, and traditional spirituals. Under the direction of Dr. Harry Mathurin-Cecil, the Chorale
is proud to represent the university president, alumni, and the institution—on campus, in the local community, and throughout the region. The Chorale recently opened for legendary gospel artists Marvin Sapp and John P. Kee in concert. They were also featured in a recording project with one of the original legendary members of the Mississippi Mass Choir, Lillian Lilly. They paid tribute in concert to the impactful poet, author, and professor, Dr. Margaret Walker with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra in 2024. They are also scheduled to perform with the MSO in 2025-2026 for one of their subscription series concerts. The JSU Chorale is also honored to have been nominated for the 2025 Sound Awards as University Choir of the Year and Music Educator of the Year (Dr. Harry Cecil). Maintaining an active schedule with the mission to promote JSU nationwide, this spring 2025 semester, in addition to Houston, the Chorale is scheduled to perform in Memphis, St. Louis, and Chicago.
Gregory D. McDaniel CONDUCTOR
Gregory D. McDaniel is a passionate conductor who is active in many different musical surroundings. He was recently featured in concert with the Orchestre Métropolitain in Québec, conducting Lili Boulanger’s D’un Matin de printemps. Last season, McDaniel led two projects for the Houston Ebony Opera Guild, including their annual AfricanAmerican Music Gala, which featured a performance of Julia Perry’s Stabat Mater. He also worked with Opera in the Heights as cover conductor and chorus master for their production of La bohème, and cover conductor for their production of Hansel and Gretel. This season marks the first for McDaniel as Assistant Conductor for the New Jersey Symphony under the Colton Conducting Fellowship. He made his debut with the orchestra conducting their annual Gospel Holiday Concert. Later this season, in addition to assisting Music Director, Maestro Xin Zhang, he will conduct Nico Muhly’s piano concerto Sounding. Earlier this season, McDaniel worked with Opera
in the Heights as cover conductor and chorus master for their production of Lucia di Lammermoor. He also conducted the Houston premiere of Laura Kaminsky’s pivotal opera As One for HOPERA. Past seasons have included leading performances of William Grant Still’s Highway 1, USA and Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up for Opera Ithaca. Other operatic opportunities include various works of Bizet (University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music) and a production of Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites (EaDo Lyric Theatre in Houston). McDaniel has assisted and covered the symphonies of Fort Bend, Abilene, Allentown, and the L.A Philharmonic. He received degrees from the University of North Texas and the University of Houston.
Gloria Quinlan CONDUCTOR
Dr. Gloria Quinlan received a Bachelor of Music Education degree in Voice from Texas Southern University; a Master of Music in Voice from Colorado State University in Fort Collins,
Colorado; and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Voice from The University of Texas at Austin. Appointments throughout her career include serving as the Assistant Professor of Music at Knoxville College in Knoxville, Tennessee; Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Department at the University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Professor of Music, Voice/ Choral, and Director of the Huston-Tillotson University Concert Choir; and Chair of the Humanities and Fine Arts Department, at Huston-Tillotson in Austin, Texas. She retired from Huston-Tillotson University in 2023. Her time at the university was characterized by her passion for music and the growth of her students. While overseeing the HT Concert Choir, she led her students to collaborate with the Austin Chamber Music Center and the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin. Her students also performed at Carnegie Hall and with country music recording artist Jelly Roll at the 2023 CMT Music Awards.
WHO’S WHO CREATE AN OPERA CAMP
WHEELER AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH GRADES 3–8
JUNE 9–13, JUNE 23–27, AND JULY 7–11, 2025
The HBCU Legacy
IBy Catherine Matusow, HGO Communications Director
ssachah Savage, one of the leading heldentenors in the world, has a vivid memory of the moment he began to consider opera as a career. He was a student at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, and his choral director, David King, asked him to stay after school one day. King pointed to a tape recorder and said, go over to this machine and press play. Out came a voice that Savage would later learn was Jussi Björling singing the climactic phrase of the “Ingemisco” from Verdi’s Requiem. King instructed Savage to copy what he heard, and Savage, feeling embarrassed, turned away. But he started to sing.
“And when I turned back to David King, as if to say, okay is that what you wanted?, I saw that he was quite emotional,”
Tenor Issachah Savage on how his experience at Morgan State University shaped his life and career.
Savage remembers. “Now, this is the David King, who typically is like a giant. We don’t see emotions other than him looking for perfection and excellence. But he was quite moved. And he said, you see? You have the kind of voice that you can do anything you want with it. Even opera.”
Savage started taking private lessons, in addition to singing with his church and local choral groups and entering local competitions. He began to haunt Philadelphia’s Tower Records, listening to all the opera he could get his hands on. And when it was time to go to college, he decided to pursue a degree in vocal performance at what he refers to as “my beloved Morgan State University,” an HBCU in Baltimore, under acclaimed choir director Nathan Carter.
During our conversation ahead of his appearance in Houston at Giving Voice —his first performance with HGO since he made his acclaimed company debut as Radamès in Aida in 2013—Savage shared more about his time at Morgan State and how it has shaped his life and career.
Tell us about your experience performing with Dr. Carter.
At Morgan State, anyone who took voice got to sing in the university choir. But there was a small group of singers called The Morgan Singers that were handpicked by Dr. Carter. And it was a rigorous kind of trial-by-fire audition where you were being auditioned and didn’t even know it. Dr. Carter did everything unconventionally. He auditioned us in real time. He wanted to see what you were going to do in front of an audience, under pressure.
And so we were at this university gig, and it was a song called “God and God Alone.” Old, old song by Daryl Coley. And Dr. Carter called me out. Mind you, he didn’t really know whether I knew it or not.
And I think it comes out of the Black church—the whole idea of spontaneity and being driven or led by the Spirit or one’s intuition, if you will. Dr. Carter was a son of a preacher, brother of a preacher, so the church was very much in him.
And so he called me out to sing the lead for “God and God Alone,” and I did. And that was my audition for being in this hand-picked group called The Morgan Singers that went all over the world.
That must have been an incredible experience.
Yes. We traveled all over the world, singing at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, the White House, overseas in Prague, Paris, Russia, Japan, Africa, and beyond. We got to sing with the likes of Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle, Barbara Smith Conrad—really, really consummate professionals and great singers. Simon Estes, Bobby McFerrin, Stevie Wonder, Diane Schuur—I mean, a wide range of people. So we had that hands-on training from Morgan State University. And I think it’s part of what really shaped so many of us—Leah Hawkins, Jasmine Barnes, Soloman Howard, Jason Max Ferdinand, Darin Atwater, Kevin Short—a long list of classical voices, conductors, teachers, preachers, composers, and instrumentalists has come out of Morgan State University. It’s because we were able to see it and be a part of it and just see ourselves in those spaces.
How did your time in college shape you as a performer?
This is a big part of why I think aspiring singers should consider HBCUs. It was so well-rounded, in that we were encouraged to sing literally everything. Jazz had to sound like jazz. R&B had to sound like R&B. Gospel had to sound like gospel. And you could not mix it all together, where somehow you’re singing “Caro mio ben,” and it sounds like gospel. You would get stopped immediately. Dr. Carter was a stickler for us being well-rounded musicians. And he would always use elements from the Black church and the Black community, which I think gives the HBCU its uniqueness about how to train a voice. The sounds that come out of the Black community open the throat and allow flexibility in ways that other genres don’t.
My time at Morgan taught me to be on stage, how to command the stage. Also, being nimble, flexible. Just
because you sang the solo last week, doesn’t mean you’re going to do it this week. Dr. Carter didn’t have to tell us to warm up our voices before choir rehearsal. We knew we better come warmed up, because we didn’t know what he was going to do. That kind of environment that he created encouraged us to be ready musicians.
That
must have been great preparation for life as an
Oh, absolutely. Being able to be a quick study, being able to hear something in your ear even if you can’t get the music—that kind of readiness was so instrumental when I first started out in my career because I didn’t often know what the conductor was going to do on these contracts. If it’s something off the beaten path and not in traditional rep, you have to learn it. Well, how do you learn it? Getting someone to play it out for you and getting it in your ear, and then you go and be the musician and conduct yourself through it. When I went to my master’s program, I was able to learn the role of Martin in Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land literally in two weeks. If I didn’t have that Morgan experience, I would never have been able to learn some of the demanding roles that I’ve learned in my career.
How has the network you built at Morgan State supported you in your life and career?
It’s built such a profound network of musicians, teachers, preachers, people who have gone on to start their own churches and things like that, principals of schools. And I get to still collaborate with a lot of them. Most
recently, I was doing a gig, and their mezzo couldn’t perform. I was able to get on the phone and call one of my former colleagues from school and say, Hey, you’re choral-directing now. Do you have a mezzo that would fill this particular criteria? And she was hired immediately.
And furthermore, it’s provided work for me in some instances. For example, a colleague of mine is working on a project, and he has to present it at the Kennedy Center, and he says, Hey, Issachah, would you do this workshop for me?
And I’ll go sing for the workshop, but it also ends up leading me to doing the professional performance. So just a large network of camaraderie and professional engagements have come out of it, but perhaps what I most value is the wealth of knowledge shared within and across the artistic disciplines.
Why would you recommend your alma mater, or another HBCU, to an aspiring singer?
It was important for me to attend Morgan State, because you literally got to see yourself. And I think this is the heartbeat of what education is, particularly in African-American communities. We need to see ourselves do it. We need to see ourselves a part of it. I would also recommend an HBCU for the exposure and proper education of how to sing AfricanAmerican literature, which is in abundance.
The gem of being at an HBCU is that you literally get to see yourself in places and spaces of excellence. And I think Morgan State was pivotal for me in that way, because they made sure we not only sang with professional artists, but that we sang with Black professional artists. We didn’t just see Marilyn Horne, with whom we did sing, but we also saw Florence Quivar, Leona Mitchell, Martina Arroyo. It was important that the university showed us, us
HGO COMMUNITY & LEARNING SUPPORTERS
GUARANTORS
The Brown Foundation, Inc.
Mathilda Cochran
William Randolph Hearst Foundation
Sara and Bill Morgan
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Wortham Foundation, Inc.
GRAND UNDERWRITERS
Judy and Richard Agee
Joan and Stanford Alexander Family Fund
ConocoPhillips
The Elkins Foundation
H-E-B
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo ™ Powell Foundation
Shell USA, Inc.
UNDERWRITERS
Ruth and Ted Bauer Family Foundation
Ms. Kiana K. Caleb and Mr. Troy L. Sullivan
The Cockrell Family Fund
Rebecca and Brian Duncan
Halliburton
Rosemary Malbin
Dr. Laura Marsh
Mr. David Montague and Mrs. Diane Ferrufino-Montague
Vivian L. Smith Foundation
Saturday, March 8
Sing! Move! Play!: Carmen. Levy Park. 11 a.m.
Monday to Friday, March 10 to 14
Storybook Opera: The Armadillo’s Dream (Mon), Westward Ho, Carlotta (Tues), Opera Cat (Wed), Lula the Mighty Griot (Thurs), Maria’s Magical Musical Adventure (Fri). Levy Park. 2 p.m. daily.
Monday, March 10
Opera to Go!: Mo Willems’s Bite-Sized Operas! Theater District Open House performance at Lynn Wyatt Square. 1 p.m.
Tuesday, March 11
Opera to Go!: Mo Willems’s Bite-Sized Operas! Alief Neighborhood Center. 11 a.m.
Wednesday, March 12
Opera to Go!: Mo Willems’s Bite-Sized Operas! Houston Rodeo Community Day performance. 11:30 a.m.
Saturday, March 15
Storybook Opera: Morry the Moores Opera House Mouse. Levy Park. 11 a.m.
HBCU s AND OPERA
These pillars of musical excellence have long served as vital training grounds for the art form’s best and brightest.
Butler Studio alumnus Eugene Perry, baritone, Texas Southern University
Butler Studio alumna Tiffany Jackson, soprano, Hampton University
Soprano Angela Brown, Oakwood University
Soprano Leontyne Price, Central State University
Composer John Cornelius, Jackson State University
Tenor Issachah Savage, Morgan State University
Bass-baritone Kevin Short, Morgan State University
Composer and pianist Scott Joplin, George R. Smith University
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