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Houston Grand Opera is an opera company in Houston Texas. It was founded in 1955 by Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing, and Charles Cockrell. HGO's inaugural season featured only two performances of two operas, Salome and Madame Butterfly, a modest beginning, but since that time the company has grown into a company of international stature which presents six to eight productions per season.
For 33 years, the General Director was David Gockley, who joined the company in 1970, became General Director in 1972, and who remained in the post until taking over the San Francisco Opera in 2006. He was succeeded by Anthony Freud until 2011. Currently, there is no specific post of General Director.
HGO's mission is to contribute to the cultural enrichment of Houston by producing and performing world-class opera, and by creating a diverse, innovative, and balanced program of performances, events, and community and education projects that reach the widest possible public. Its core values are excellence, relevance and affordability. With an operating budget of $20 million in the 2010/11 season, HGO has provided a variety of services to the greater Houston area and the Gulf Coast region, and has served over 5 million people annually. Since 1973, as one of the country's principal commissioners and producers of new works, HGO has staged 43 world premieres and six American premieres.
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