HOUSTON GRAND OPERA AND ASIA SOCIET Y TEX AS PRESENT A WORLD -PREMIERE OPER A
MUSIC BY MEILINA TSUI | LIBRETTO BY MELISA TIEN
F E B . 1 6 , 2 0 2 4 | 7 : 3 0 P. M . F E B . 1 7, 2 0 2 4 | 2 P. M . F E B . 1 8 , 2 0 2 4 | 2 P. M . ASIA SOCIETY TEXAS
THE BIG SWIM
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H O U S TO N G R A N D O PE R A KHORI DASTOOR GENERAL DIRECTOR AND CEO Margaret Alkek Williams Chair PATRICK SUMMERS ARTISTIC AND MUSIC DIRECTOR Sarah and Ernest Butler Chair
ASIA SOCIET Y TEX AS BONNA KOL PRESIDENT
Welcome to The Big Swim! I am thrilled to be here with you as, together with Asia Society Texas, Houston Grand Opera presents the world premiere of Meilina Tsui and Melisa Tien’s sensational new opera. When our friends at AST came to HGO with the idea for a new opera centered around the Lunar New Year, the team was immediately enthusiastic. The idea was a perfect fit with a treasured tradition at HGO. As a company, we are committed to serving Houston families. That means supporting the creation of multi-generational programming, grounded in our international city, for our audiences. The Big Swim, HGO’s 76th world premiere, celebrates the beautiful cultural gifts that Houstonians of Asian descent have bestowed upon all who live here. An incredible group of creatives is behind this innovative new piece. Award-winning composer Meilina Tsui is gaining international recognition for her brilliant fusion of disparate Asian influences, and librettist Melisa Tien is a prolific creator of highly original works for theater. Directing the opera is inimitable talent Mo Zhou. The cast, too, is top-in-class, starting with mezzo-soprano Sun-Ly Pierce, a recent graduate of HGO’s Butler Studio program, now making us proud on stages across the country. She is joined by soprano Meigui Zhang, mezzosoprano Alice Chung, tenor Seiyoung Kim, baritone Joseph Lim, and bass Zaikuan Song, with Eiki Isomura, the esteemed artistic director and principal conductor of Opera in the Heights, at the podium. At its heart, The Big Swim is a story about unity, and what we can achieve when we decide to work together. That feels especially apropos in light of HGO’s longtime relationship with our dear friends at the Asia Society Texas. We are so grateful for their partnership and hospitality, and for all of you in the audience with us today. Enjoy the show!
Khori Dastoor General Director and CEO, Houston Grand Opera Margaret Alkek Williams Chair
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XU BING: WORD ALCHEMY On view February 22 – July 14, 2024 MORE INFORMATION:
ASIASOCIETY.ORG/TEXAS 1370 Southmore at Caroline, Houston, Texas 77004 | 713.496.9901 | #AsiaSocietyTX
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Xu Bing, Background Story: Autumn Colors on the Qiao and Hua Mountains, 2023. Natural debris attached to frosted glass, wood, lights. Courtesy the artist.
It is our joy to welcome you to the world premiere opening of The Big Swim! Lunar New Year is an especially meaningful time of year, rooted in wishes of good health and prosperity for family and friends. I have many wonderful childhood memories of large family gatherings filled with warm laughter, delicious homemade food and treats, and of course, the special red envelope filled with cash gifts from the elders! It has been a longtime passion for Asia Society Texas to create a Lunar New Year performance that would become an annual tradition for Asian American families to celebrate and share their cultural heritage while simultaneously providing an opportunity for our broader audience to collectively learn and enjoy the holiday together. This passion is now a reality due to our partnership with Houston Grand Opera, and we are immensely grateful for their commitment to the vision for this significant project. We are also deeply thankful to Meilina Tsui, Melisa Tien, Mo Zhou, and the full creative team for their talent and dedication in creating this playful reimagining of the Jade Emperor and the Great Race legend. While we know you will enjoy cheering for your own zodiac animal during the race, we hope you will connect with the themes of friendship and collaboration that are inherent in both this heartwarming tale and Asia Society’s mission. We are delighted you have joined us for this auspicious occasion and hope this is the beginning of a new tradition for you and your family! Wishing you and your loved ones a healthy and prosperous Year of the Dragon.
Bonna Kol President, Asia Society Texas
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THE CHINESE ZODIAC Which animal are you? It depends on the year when you were born. Match your birth year to your zodiac sign with this handy wheel!
2014 2013 2002 2001 1990 1989 1978 1977 1966 1965 1 1953 954
AKE SN
ROST ER
2017 20 2005 D 2004 EP 1993 20 92 9 1 5 1 20 18 1981 20 03 1980 19 06 20 991 68 1969 19 94 9 1 1 79 1 8 1956 1957 1 97 2 19 67 95 0 19 55 8 19
RABB IT
NKEY MO 16
ER TIG
SH E
HORS E 4
O
2023 DR 2022 20 A 1 1 2010 X 20 19 9 9 1998 21 2 24 19 8 20 09 7 1986 20 012 1975 20 97 19 00 1974 19 85 8 1962 1963 1 197 8 19 73 96 6 19 61 4 19
G O
RAT
2020 2019 2008 7 0 0 2 1996 1995 1984 1983 1972 1971 1 1959 960
N O G
PIG
MUSIC BY MEILINA T SUI | LIBRE T TO BY MELISA TIEN
THE BIG SWIM Commissioned by Houston Grand Opera in partnership with Asia Society Texas. Premiered by Houston Grand Opera at Asia Society Texas in February 2024. The Big Swim is a Co‐Production of Houston Grand Opera and Asia Society Texas.
CA ST Zaikuan Song* Joseph Lim* Seiyoung Kim* Sun-Ly Pierce† Alice Chung* Meigui Zhang*
Dragon/Dog Tiger/Rooster Monkey/Rat Snake/Sheep Ox/Pig Rabbit/Horse
CRE ATIVE Meilina Tsui* Melisa Tien* Eiki Isomura Mo Zhou* Afsaneh Aayani* Valérie Thérese Bart* Michael James Clark Caitlin Farley
Composer Librettist Conductor Director Scenic and Puppet Designer Costume Designer Lighting Designer Stage Manager
ORCHESTR A Natalie Gaynor‡ Barrett Sills‡ Erik Gronfor‡ Henry Williford‡ Craig Hauschildt William Woodard
Violin Cello Double Bass Flute/Alto Flute/Piccolo Percussion Piano
* Houston Grand Opera debut † Former Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio artist ‡ HGO Orchestra core musician
PRODUC TION CREDITS English supertitles by Lucas Nguyen. Supertitles called by Dallas Gray. Orchestral musicians are represented by the Houston Professional Musicians Association, Local #65-699, American Federation of Musicians. Stage crew personnel provided by IATSE, Local #51. Wardrobe personnel provided by Theatrical Wardrobe Union, Local #896.
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QUICK START GUIDE BACKGROUND The Big Swim is inspired by the popular folk tale that explains why the lunar zodiac features 12 animals in a particular order: The Great Race. As the story goes, the Emperor gathers the animals to participate in a race, and the order in which the animals finish determines their place in the zodiac. Having the opportunity to tell this tale to the wonderfully diverse Houston AAPI community felt like an open invitation to include the community as much as possible, and we’ve aimed to do so in fun and surprising ways. From costumes that represent the range of AAPI cultures that call Houston home, to the Taoist temple where we meet Rat and Ox, to the audience itself taking on a big (some might say, the biggest) role in the story, this opera simply would not exist without this community. To make things even more fun, the story is designed to highlight whoever happens to be the Animal of the Year, in a way that remains wholly integral to the story. While this new retelling incorporates elements of the original story, it also builds upon it—adding the notion that in the face of
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sudden adversity, it can help to remember the “unity” in “community.” In this way, the opera feels relevant regardless of when or where it’s being performed. I’m proud to be part of the incredible team that’s bringing it to you now. —Melisa Tien, librettist
STORY It’s the time of the Lunar New Year, and an important river race is about to commence between 12 animals. Dragon, Tiger, Monkey, Snake, Rat, Ox, Rabbit, Pig, Rooster, Sheep, Horse, and Dog are competing for first place and a cash prize. Each of them prepares for the big swim in their own way; one makes calculations, another stretches, while one even passes out pool noodles. When the race begins, the animals jump in and swim without any trouble. Soon, however, the water begins to rise, and the river moves faster and faster. It becomes more than they can handle, and they’re swept off course. They start to fear for their lives. One of the animals calls out to the others to aim for a large boulder sticking out from the river and hang
onto each other. They gather around the boulder to wait out the tide. Once the water begins to settle, they swim for shore. When they come out of the river, they discover that all of them have been pronounced winners and won the prize. More importantly, they discover that being the sole winner is far less important than supporting one another and emerging side by side.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR The Snake’s aria in Part I, sung right after she tricks Monkey, Tiger, and Dragon into making a false start of the race, is unhurried and sensuous. To accentuate Snake’s sense of eccentricity and lone-wolf persona, I took loose inspiration from the Japanese seven-tone scale In sen, as well as “Gollum’s Song” from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Part II brings Rabbit and Tiger’s heated duet, in which they argue over who has the better solutions to winning the race, highlighted by contrasting singing styles and intense
polyrhythmic superimpositions. I looked to atonal music from the 20th century to create the sense of friction between the two stubborn competitors. In Part III, all 12 zodiac animals express their fear, stress, and apprehension during the most challenging part of the race. The music becomes extremely polyphonic here; everyone is singing something different, but the shared anxiety among them all is tangible at this critical moment in the opera. Beneath the singing, there is a growing bass drum roll that represents the animals’ submergence in the river. —Meilina Tsui, composer
WHO’S WHO MEILINA TSUI (KAZAKHSTAN/HONG KONG/ UNITED STATES) COMPOSER Meilina Tsui, making her HGO debut, is a composer, pianist, singer-songwriter, advocate for youth artistic development, and educator. Her music, described by The Aspen Times as “irresistible, and emotionally convincing,” has been performed across Asia, Europe, the United States, and in the Middle East. In 2023, Tsui’s Nomadic Trails for chamber orchestra was selected from a competitive nationwide call for scores by the American Composers Orchestra. The piece also won the 2021 ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award from the University of Michigan and the 2022 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award. Her String Quartet No. 2 “Kazakh Steppe” has received many performances around the world and numerous awards, including the 2018 Mivos Composition Prize for Chinese Composers worldwide. In 2018, Tsui was the main featured composer at the “Beyond Boundaries, Beyond Time: Hong Kong-Kazakhstan” concert that marked the Secretary for Hong Kong Home Affairs Bureau’s first official visit to Kazakhstan. In celebration of the HKSAR’s 20th anniversary in 2017, Tsui was the youngest and only female composer featured at the London “Hong Kong Music Series,” where her Six Miniature Pieces of Yin and Yang for two pianos was performed to great acclaim. Among a host of notable commissions, Tsui wrote a piece called Ay-Ay, Bopem (a Kazakh Lullaby Without Words), commissioned by principal members of the Lexington Philharmonic and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras for the ArtsWave Isolation Commissions, centered on themes of racial injustice and cultural healing. She holds music degrees from University of Michigan, King’s College London, and Chinese University of Hong Kong.
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MELISA TIEN (UNITED STATES) LIBRETTIST Melisa Tien, making her HGO debut, is a playwright, lyricist, and librettist invested in making formally unconventional, socially relevant, and emotionally evocative work. A resident playwright with New Dramatists, she is the author of the plays Best Life (JACK, 2021), Yellow Card, Red Card (Ice Factory, 2017), The Boyd Show, and Familium Vulgare; co-author of the operas Family Heirloom (Experiments in Opera, 2023), Forever (Washington National Opera, 2024), Song of the Nightingale (On Site Opera, 2023), and The Beehive (University of Northern Iowa, 2023); co-author of the music-theater works Swell (HERE, 2021), Daylight Saving, and Mary; and co-creator of the podcast/ auditory experience Active Listening. She has been published in the anthologies Theater Artists Making Theatre With No Theater (Tripwire Harlot Press, 2020) and Modern Music for New Singers: 21st Century American Art Songs (North Star Music, 2021). She is currently a member of WNO’s American Opera Initiative, and has been a member of Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s 2022 Ground Floor Residency Lab, Experiments in Opera’s 2022 Writers’ Room, and The Assembly Theater Project’s 2021 Deceleration Lab. She is the recipient of a 2020-21 grant from the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music, and Theatre, as well as a 2019 Ensemble Studio Theatre/ Sloan commission. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University. EIKI ISOMURA (UNITED STATES) CONDUCTOR Eiki Isomura is artistic director and principal conductor of Opera in the Heights in Houston, where he has led over 100 performances of over 25 operas.
He previously served on the music staff of Arizona Opera and HGO, preparing the workshops and world premieres of numerous chamber operas, including The Memory Stone (2013); during the 2022-23 season he also conducted three world-premiere vocal chamber pieces for HGO’s Music and Meditations, the final presentation of the company’s Seeking the Human Spirit initiative. Recent and upcoming engagements include Toshio Hosokawa’s The Raven at Opera Philadelphia; Jack Perla/Jessica Murphy Moo’s An American Dream at Opera Santa Barbara; the world premiere of Laura Schwendinger/Ginger Strand’s Cabaret of Shadows, Trevor Weston’s Stars, Marcus Maroney’s Velvet, Rob Smith’s Sprint, and Pierre Jalbert’s All is Now with MUSIQA; Tosca at Opera Orlando; Albert Herring at the Harrower Workshop at Georgia State University; and Pirates of Penzance with Houston Gilbert & Sullivan Society. A devoted advocate for new music, Isomura has formed partnerships between numerous organizations and his home company, Opera in the Heights, to co-commission and co-produce numerous critically acclaimed new operas. In addition to his work as conductor, producer, educator, and librettist/translator, Isomura is a sought-after adjudicator of vocal competitions and panelist for arts organizations. He serves on the Opera America Artistic Services Council and holds a doctorate in orchestral conducting from the University of Michigan. MO ZHOU (CHINA) DIRECTOR Mo Zhou is making her HGO directing debut. Previously for the company, she served as assistant director for La traviata (2017). Zhou’s career spans opera, theater, dance, and film. On faculty at the University of Michigan, she is committed to invigorating the classical canon and spearheading new works. Highlights of the 2022-23 season include Rinaldo at Minnesota Opera, Iphigénie en Tauride at Boston Baroque, and La bohème with the Music Academy of the West. Companies producing her work include Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Berlin), National Centre for the Performing Arts (China), The THE BIG SWIM
Santa Fe Opera, and Florida Grand Opera. She worked on the directing staff at Lyric Opera of Chicago and other companies. Zhou has held directing fellowships at Juilliard, Wolf Trap Opera, WP Theater, Merola Opera Program, and The Glimmerglass Festival. A winner of the Opera America Robert L.B. Tobin DirectorDesigner Prize, she has taught at Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, and NYU. Zhou has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and theater from Bowdoin College, a Master of Fine Arts degree in stage directing from Columbia University, and a certificate in diversity/ inclusion from Cornell University. AFSANEH AAYANI (IRAN/UNITED STATES) SCENIC AND PUPPET DESIGNER Afsaneh Aayani, making her HGO debut as a member of the creative team for The Big Swim, has contributed pieces of her art for HGO productions including Carmen (2021), The Puffed Up Prima Donna (2016), and The Pastry Prince (2014). Aayani is a Houston-based scenic designer, puppeteer, puppet maker, mask maker, voice actress, and artist. She began her artistic journey in Iran, where she developed her skills as a puppeteer and puppet maker and performed as a voice actor on television. She completed her bachelor’s degree in puppetry from the Art University of Tehran and shortly thereafter performed in festivals internationally including in China, Poland, and Sri Lanka. Since moving to Houston, where she completed her master’s degree in scenic design at the University of Houston in 2020, Aayani has been engaged in exciting work around the city, with projects including scenic design, costume design, working as a props master, puppet and mask making, and teaching. She has worked with Houston-area theaters including Catastrophic Theatre, the Alley Theatre, Main Street Theater, A.D. Players, Stages Theatre, the Rec Room, Classical Theatre, and Landing Theater. In the spring of 2020, Afsaneh was awarded the USITT Scenic Design Award Sponsored by Rose Brand in recognition of her achievements and potential as a young scenic designer. 9
VALÉRIE THÉRÈSE BART (FRANCE/VIETNAM/UNITED STATES) COSTUME DESIGNER
Valérie Thérèse Bart is making her HGO debut. Her opera work includes A Thousand Acres (world premiere, Des Moines Metro Opera); Fidelio, Butterfly (adaptation of Madame Butterfly, Heartbeat Opera); Rigoletto (Minnesota Opera); Vinkensport / Rocking Horse Winner (U.S. premiere, Opera Saratoga), Listen, Wilhelmina! (costumes/sets, world premiere, Wolf Trap Opera); and She, After (costumes/sets, world premiere, Urban Arias). Her regional theater work includes It’s Christmas, Carol! (world premiere, Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Twelfth Night (Kansas City Repertory Theatre); Poor Yella Rednecks (world premiere by Qui Nguyen, South Coast Repertory); Vietgone (Alley Theatre, Denver Center); The Great Leap (world premiere by Lauren Yee, Denver Center/Seattle Rep); The Servant of Two Masters (Theatre for a New Audience, Seattle Rep, Guthrie Theater, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Yale Repertory Theatre); and Pop! (sets, world premiere, Yale Rep). Her Off-Broadway work includes Wives (world premiere by Jaclyn Backhaus, Playwrights Horizons); Little Women (New York premiere by Kate Hamill, Primary Stages); Vanity Fair (world premiere by Kate Hamill, Pearl Theatre). Other work includes For You, Paige (world premiere TikTok musical) and Tina Packer’s Women of Will (costumes/sets, national/international tour). She has a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University School of Drama. MICHAEL JAMES CLARK (UNITED STATES) LIGHTING DESIGNER Michael James Clark is the Head of Lighting and Production Media for HGO. This season for the company, he serves as Lighting Designer for Falstaff and The Big Swim and Revival Lighting Designer for Parsifal. During HGO’s 2022-23 season, Clark was associate lighting designer 10
for The Marriage of Figaro, Werther, and Tosca, and during the company’s 2021-22 season he created the lighting design for the world premiere production of The Snowy Day and served as the assistant lighting designer for The Magic Flute and associate lighting designer for Carmen. He served as revival lighting designer for HGO’s production of Aida (2020) and designed lighting for mainstage and Miller Outdoor Theatre productions of La bohème (2018-19) and the world premiere of The Phoenix (2019). He lit the HGO world premieres of Some Light Emerges (2017), After the Storm (2016), and O Columbia (2015); mainstage productions of Otello (2014); Die Fledermaus, Aida, and Il trovatore (2013); La bohème, La traviata, and The Rape of Lucretia (2012); The Marriage of Figaro (2011); the world premiere of Cruzar la Cara de la Luna (2010); and numerous outdoor productions. Clark also has designed lighting for Teatro La Fenice, San Francisco Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, Stages Repertory Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars, Rice University, and the 2007 Prague Quadrennial. He holds a degree in lighting design from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. MEIGUI ZHANG (CHINA) SOPRANO—RABBIT/HORSE Meigui Zhang, making her HGO debut, represented China in the 2023 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Recent and upcoming engagements include her Los Angeles Opera debut in Don Giovanni (Zerlina), her debut with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood in Così fan tutte (Despina) and joining the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in J.L. Adams’s Vespers of the Blessed Earth. Zhang’s 2022-23 season featured an exciting role debut as Euridice in San Francisco Opera’s Orfeo ed Euridice, her Atlanta Opera debut as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and a return to the Metropolitan Opera covering Ilia in Idomeneo. During the 2021-22 season Zhang performed as Thibault in Don Carlos and reprised her Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera. She also made her triumphant debut at the San Francisco Opera in the lead role of Dai
Yu in Bright Sheng’s The Dream of the Red Chamber. Zhang was the Grand Prize winner of the 2019 Verbier Festival “Prix Yves Paternot,” a finalist in the 2019 Queen Sonja International Music Competition, and second place winner at the 2020 Opera Index Competition. She won the Audience Prize at the 2020 Glyndebourne Opera Cup. A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, the Merola Opera Program, and the Chautauqua Institute, Zhang has a master’s degree from the Mannes School of Music and a bachelor’s degree at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. SUN-LY PIERCE (UNITED STATES) MEZZO-SOPRANO—SNAKE/ SHEEP This season for HGO, Butler Studio alumna Sun-Ly Pierce also performs the role of Suzuki in Madame Butterfly. She performed the role of Jack in HGO’s new production of The Wreckers in fall 2022; as Mercedes in Carmen, Sister Mathilde in Dialogues of the Carmelites, 2nd Lady in The Magic Flute, and Stephano in Romeo and Juliet during the 2021-22 season; and as Liesl in My Favorite Things: Songs from The Sound of Music and as Hansel in HGO Digital’s Hansel and Gretel in the 2020-21 season. Elsewhere during the 2023-24 season, Pierce sings Siegrune in Die Walküre with Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro with New Orleans Opera. During the 2022-23 season, Pierce debuted at Opera Philadelphia as Emilia in Otello; made her Carnegie Hall debut performing Songs of the Infatuated Muezzin with The Orchestra Now; sang Smeraldina in The Love for Three Oranges and Toledo in The Falling and the Rising with Des Moines Metro Opera; appeared with Detroit Opera as Arsamenes in Xerxes; sang Laurene Powell in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs with Calgary Opera; and performed Serenade to Music for Bard SummerScape. Other highlights include performing the role of Bao Chai in Dream of the Red Chamber at San Francisco Opera, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at the Aspen Music Festival, and Dorinda in Handel’s Acis and Galatea with the Broad Street Orchestra. THE BIG SWIM
Pierce was the first prize winner in HGO’s 2020 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias and the 2019 Marilyn Horne Song Competition. ALICE CHUNG (UNITED STATES) MEZZO-SOPRANO—OX/PIG Alice Chung is making her HGO debut. During the 2022-23 season, Chung covered Dame Quickly (Falstaff) with Opera San José, made her company debut at Arizona Opera as Dritte Dame in The Magic Flute, and returned to San Francisco Opera to cover the role of Suzuki in Madame Butterfly. The 2023-24 season will see Chung singing the role of Suzuki in Madame Butterfly with Boston Lyric Opera and Mama/ Mrs. Kobayashi in An American Dream with Hawai’i Opera Theatre. As a 2017 and 2019 alumnus of SFO’s Merola Opera Program, Chung has garnered acclaim for her excerpted portrayals of Azucena (Il trovatore), Santuzza (Cavalleria rusticana), Augusta Tabor (The Ballad of Baby Doe), and Gertrude (Hamlet). She returned to San Francisco to make her Schwabacher Debut Recital, cover the role of Granny Jia in Dream of the Red Chamber, and present her Shoshana Foundation recital, Illustrations. Chung has sung with Tulsa Opera, Central City Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Hawai’i Opera Theatre. Among many awards and honors, Chung is the recipient of a 2021 Sullivan Foundation Award and a 2020 Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation. She is the co-founder of Wear Yellow Proudly, an arts and advocacy initiative devoted to bringing awareness to Asian culture by showcasing and celebrating Asian art and artists worldwide. SEIYOUNG KIM (UNITED STATES/SOUTH KOREA) TENOR—MONKEY/RAT Seiyoung Kim is an alumnus of HGO’s Young Artist Vocal Academy. Kim is currently pursuing his Master of Musical Arts degree at Yale University, where he performed the title role in Le Comte Ory and the role of 11
Oronte in Alcina. In the 2019-20 season, Kim made his debut at Wolf Trap Opera as Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos and participated in workshops for Huang Ruo’s M. Butterfly with Santa Fe Opera. In the 2018-19 season, he covered the roles of Brighella and Tanzmeister in Ariadne auf Naxos with Santa Fe Opera; he also performed the roles of Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and Basilio in The Marriage of Figaro and covered the title role in Candide at New England Conservatory. In the 2017-18 season, he performed the roles of Tamino in The Magic Flute and Jimmy O’Keefe in Later the Same Evening at NEC and participated in the workshop for Permadeath as Niobe with White Snake Projects. At The Juilliard School, Kim sang the role of Fileno in La fedeltà premiata. He was named as a Connecticut district winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in the 2021-22 season, and a Tulsa district winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the 2020-21 season. He is an alumnus of The Juilliard School and the New England Conservatory and was a young artist at Wolf Trap Opera and Santa Fe Opera. JOSEPH LIM (SOUTH KOREA) BARITONE—TIGER/ROOSTER Joseph Lim is making his HGO debut. Lim joined the Metropolitan Opera roster and covered De Vavert in a Cyrano de Bergerac in the 2019-20 season, returning to cover Guglielmo in its new production of Così fan tutte. Also for the Met, he performed as a soloist in the 2019 Summer Recital Series in New York parks, and in 2022 performed as Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos and the Flemish Deputy in Don Carlo. In 2023 he debuted with the Nashville Opera in the premiere of Au Yong’s Stuck Elevator. While living in Germany before the pandemic Lim was a member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and sang the roles of Gregorio in Romeo and Juliet and Schaunard in La bohème. He has appeared as a soloist in Opera Gala concerts throughout Korea and performed at the Ravinia Festival, the Los Angeles Opera, and the Festival of the Aegean, Greece, as Silvio in Pagliacci. Lim studied at the Music Academy of the West and was a member of the Ryan Center Opera Program at Lyric Opera of Chicago. 12
ZAIKUAN SONG (CHINA) BASS—DRAGON/DOG Zaikuan Song, making his HGO debut, is possessed of a repertoire that spans from the comic parts of Donizetti, Mozart, Puccini, and Rossini to the strong and serious roles of Verdi. During the 2023-24 season, he also performs as Rambaldo in La rondine with Opera on the James, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Opera Orlando, and as a soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra. Song’s notable engagements include The King and Ramfis in Aida, Timur in Turandot, Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Banco in Macbeth, and Sarastro in The Magic Flute. He has sung the roles of Germano in La Scala di Seta, Simone in Gianni Schicchi, Frank Maurrant in Street Scene, Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro, Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love, Mr. Emerson in A Room with a View, Changwu Ye in The Savage Land, and Ariodate in Xerxes with MSU Opera Theater. Other credits include leading roles with Opera Grand Rapids, Opera Carolina, and Toledo Opera, and concert appearances with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Gerdine Young Artist Program in 2022. Song was awarded the Top Prize in the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition in 2018 and was named a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions – Midwest Region in 2020. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University School of Music and Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in vocal performance from China Conservatory of Music.
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ABOUT HOUSTON GR AND OPER A Houston Grand Opera (HGO) 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 including The Big Swim) 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.
ABOUT A SIA SOCIET Y TE X A S Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people. As an educational institution, we advance cultural exchange by celebrating the vibrant diversity of Asia, inspiring empathy, and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world. Spanning the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, our programming is rooted in the educational and cultural development of our community—trusting in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society.
AST Director of Performing Arts and Culture Michael Buening with HGO General Director and CEO Khori Dastoor
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SUPPORTERS Judy and Richard Agee
Houston Endowment Inc.
Joan and Stanford Alexander Family Fund
Houston Grand Opera Guild
Chinhui and Eddie Allen
Lee Huber
Nancy C. Allen
Jaewon Kang and Robert Gondo
Anchorage Foundation of Texas
Sahana Kishore and Kishore Sundararajan
Robin Angly and Miles Smith
Ms. Rachel Le and Mr. Lam Hguy
Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Ardell
Madeline and Jae Lee
Ruth and Ted Bauer Family Foundation
Teri and Jeff Lee
Adrienne Bond
Claire Liu and Joseph Greenberg
Mr. and Mrs. Lester P. Burgess
Rosemary Malbin
The Lawrence E. Carlton, MD,
Dr. Laura Marsh
Endowment Fund
Mellon Foundation
Anne and Albert Chao
Mr. David Montague
Drs. Julie and Stephen Chen
Janie and Eric Moon
City of Houston through the
Sara and Bill Morgan
Miller Theatre Advisory Board
John L. Nau III
The Clayton Fund
OPERA America
Mathilda Cochran
Mr. Geoffry H. Oshman
The Cockrell Family Fund
Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Pancherz
China and Roberto Contreras
Susmita and Syamal Poddar
The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts
The Powell Foundation
Shelly Cyprus
Sue and Randy Sim
James J. Drach Endowment Fund
Leigh and Reggie Smith
Rebecca and Brian Duncan
Vivian L. Smith Foundation
The Elkins Foundation
Y. Ping Sun and David Leebron
Trish Freeman and Bruce Patterson
The Takashima Family
Monica Fulton
Janae and Ken Tsai
Sutapa Ghosh
Phoebe and Bobby Tudor
Rhoda Goldberg
Michelle and Rishi Varma
Kathy and Glen Gondo
Margaret Alkek Williams
Kathy and Marty Goossen
The Wong Family
Halliburton
The Wortham Foundation, Inc.
George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation
Anonymous (1)
William Randolph Hearst Foundation
The commissioning of Meilina Tsui for The Big Swim received funding from OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Women Composers program supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. The humanities programming paired with The Big Swim has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
THE BIG SWIM
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MAY 17 AND 18, 2024 | 8 P.M. Join HGO for a free evening of opera under the stars at Miller Outdoor Theatre! I N F O R M AT I O N AT H G O . O R G
These performances are made possible by the 16 City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board.
E M BA R K O N A N I NTE R ACTI V E J O U R N E Y! Adventure awaits! Learn about the arts and cultures of Asia through an immersive journey to China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam through Asia Society Texas’ new permanent Explore Asia exhibition — the first interactive learning exhibition in Texas focused specifically on Asia.
THE BIG SWIM
1370 Southmore Boulevard, Houston, TX 77004 | 713.496.9901 AsiaSociety.org/Texas | #AsiaSocietyTX
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