Houston Grand Opera Announces World Premiere Song Cycle A VOICE WITHIN

Houston Grand Opera has announced the world premiere of A Voice Within, a new song cycle created by HGO Composer-in-Residence Joel Thompson and librettist and Houston poet laureate emeritus Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, inspired by the life stories of residents of Houston's Third Ward.

Presented in partnership with the Emancipation Park Conservancy and the African American History Research Center at the Gregory School, the piece will premiere on June 17, 2025 at Emancipation Park Conservancy's Cultural Center, in celebration of the Juneteenth holiday. Tickets to the event are now available at HGO.org.   

A Voice Within is comprised of 12 songs for two voices and piano, composed by Thompson in his signature genre-blending style and set to poems by Mouton that share stories of Black Houstonians. Based on interviews with longtime city residents, as well as oral histories from the collections of the Emancipation Park Conservancy and the Gregory School's African American History Research Center, the collection of songs provides a platform for voices that often have been marginalized in the classical music world. 

“Poets are alchemists, sifting through the materials of life and distilling them into something new,” says HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers. “Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton and Joel Thompson are both poets, the first with words and the latter with music. This moving new cycle of songs examines the inner voices which have been all around us here in Houston, unknown or under-known until now, when this unique creative alchemy has brought these songs into being. I can't wait.”  

“It has been an honor to meditate on the history of this city and to craft, in collaboration with the brilliant Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, a musical offering of gratitude to the unsung Black voices that make Houston the vibrant metropolis that is now my home,” says Thompson. “I'm so grateful to HGO and the Emancipation Park Conservancy for facilitating the community conversations that were an essential part of the creation of A Voice Within. I hope this song cycle will inspire all of us to recognize the power of our own stories to galvanize community and to lead us toward a more just and hopeful future.” 

“This song cycle is the amalgamation of so many generations of Black voices in Houston. It was truly my pleasure to be able to listen to how Houston has grown, shifted, and evolved over the years,” says Mouton. “But the greatest joy was listening as Joel wrapped each voice in song; how the multitude of experiences grew into duets and high notes. The magic of music is that it is able to take a story and turn it into an unforgettable melody—making the storyteller, the story, the singer, and the listener blend into a chorus of their own experience. One that bears witness to the everyday and the exceptional Black history of Houston.”  

As part of Thompson and Mouton's creative process for A Voice Within, HGO hosted a series of public conversations, Coffee with the Composer, at Emancipation Park's Cultural Center. At these events, the creators joined with community members to discuss and workshop the songs, which are filled with evocative, Houston-grounded imagery—including landmarks such as the Eldorado Ballroom, local streets and schools, and NASA—and explore themes of freedom, equality, and community. Houstonians past and present whose stories feature in the cycle include educator Margaret Fisher, community leader Jacqueline Bostic, and lawyer Bobby Caldwell.  

The June 17, 2025 world-premiere performance will feature beloved soprano, HGO favorite, and Houstonian Nicole Heaston, joined by baritone Justin Austin, who last year was named Rising Star of the Year at the International Opera Awards and received the Marian Anderson Vocal Award. They will be accompanied by Donald Lee III, who has performed with companies across the country and recently served as pianist/conductor for Lyric Opera of Chicago's Ryan Opera Center. Moderating a pre-performance panel discussion about the new song cycle will be Emmy Award-winning Houston broadcast journalist Linda Lorelle.  

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