Jan. 17: Conductor James Gaffigan Leads the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra’s First “Concert of Arias” Performance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Katy Salomon | Primo Artists | VP, Public Relations 
katy@primoartists.com | 646.801.9406

Conductor James Gaffigan Leads
the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra’s First
“Concert of Arias” Performance

Rice Alumnus Gaffigan Returns in
Majestic New Concert Format for Finalists in the
Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers

Friday, January 17, 2025 at 7:00pm

“Gaffigan’s fluid gestures ensured admirable ensemble cohesion from all musicians,
with fine details emerging from the texture as he balanced the powerful orchestra… with his singers.”
– The Classical Review

“Gaffigan is one of the most promising conductors of his generation.” – Musical America

“effortlessly chic” – The Washington Post

www.jamesgaffigan.com

Houston, TX (December 12, 2024) – On Friday, January 17, 2025, American conductor James Gaffigan leads the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra in the 37th annual, newly reimagined “Concert of Arias” featuring finalists of the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers. This marks the first-ever performance by the HGO Orchestra in the concert (previously accompanied by piano only), bringing an atmosphere of operatic grandeur to this showcase of next-generation talent. This upcoming collaboration represents a long-awaited return for Gaffigan, a Rice University alumnus and former student of Larry Rachleff, who last conducted the HGO in 2011 for a production of The Marriage of Figaro. Gaffigan’s passionate support of music education, exceptional ear for young talent and insight and sensitivity in working with top singers make him a fitting conductor for this concert of rising stars.

“The Concert of Arias is a rare opportunity to learn repertoire at the very last minute, as the competition progresses,” Gaffigan commented. “The orchestra and I will learn which arias/excerpts will be performed only days before the concert. It's an exciting event spearheaded by a truly forward-thinking company. Many talented young singers get to work with pianists in recital and audition situations, but rarely a professional orchestra. It will be an exciting experience for the competitors, orchestra musicians, judges and public alike.”

The Concert of Arias represents the final round in the Eleanor McCollum Competition, spotlighting a small group of highly talented young artists selected following an extensive international search. Winners receive cash prizes and consideration for an invitation to join the prestigious Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio, which provides comprehensive career development for emerging opera singers. In service to its mission of attracting and investing in the finest young artists worldwide, HGO has tripled this year's total Concert of Arias prize purse.

Praised for his "impassioned leadership" (The Wall Street Journal) and "meticulous presentation" (OperaWire), Gaffigan is among the rare American conductors to achieve top-tier status in Europe. He devotes much of his 2024-2025 season to engagements as head of Komische Oper Berlin and Spain's Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, though he is highly sought-after as a guest conductor by orchestras across North America and worldwide. In January 2025, he returns to roots in both Houston and San Francisco, where he conducts the San Francisco Symphony, having served for three years as the symphony’s Associate Conductor under the legendary Michael Tilson Thomas – a role created expressly for Gaffigan. In his upcoming return, he leads the orchestra in a program highlighting Missy Mazzoli’s Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres) and featuring violin soloist Ray Chen.

Among his other U.S. highlights this season, Gaffigan returns to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on May 31, 2025, conducting an "American Road Trip" program featuring works by Dvorák, Bernstein and Gershwin. From June 12 to June 14, 2025, Gaffigan leads the National Symphony Orchestra in three concerts spotlighting film music by classical composers, including Bernstein’s soundtrack for On the Waterfront and Nino Rota's music for The Godfather. The first of these concerts features GRAMMY® Award-winning violinist James Ehnes in a performance of James Newton Howard's Violin Concerto No. 2, while the second incorporates Michael Abels' work Delights and Dances and the third spotlights Abel Pereira in John Williams' Horn Concerto.

Program Details
Houston Grand Opera Presents Concert of Arias | Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers
Friday, January 17, 2025 at 7:00pm
Cullen Theater | Houston, TX
Tickets: $25-$50
Link: my.houstongrandopera.org/concert-of-arias

About James Gaffigan
Recognized worldwide for his natural ease and extraordinary collaborative spirit, American conductor James Gaffigan has attracted international attention for his prowess as a conductor of both symphony orchestras and opera. The mutual trust he builds with artists empowers them to cultivate the highest art possible.

Gaffigan is uniquely positioned with Music Directorships at two international opera houses. He is the General Music Director of Komische Oper Berlin, where he begins his second season in 2024-2025, and Music Director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, where he enters his fourth season off widely acclaimed productions of Wozzeck, La Bohème, and Tristan und Isolde.

In his 2024-2025 season with Komische Oper Berlin, Gaffigan leads productions of Sweeney Todd, The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni, among others. At Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, he conducts a varied season of programming including a staging of Der fliegende Holländer. Guest engagements include his debut with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and returns to the Vienna Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. In the United States, he makes return engagements with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and Houston Grand Opera.

During the 2023/24 season, Gaffigan made returns to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the St. Louis Symphony. In Summer 2023, Gaffigan led the Metropolitan Opera in their production of La Bohème, as well as the Orchestre de Paris with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra. Other recent orchestral appearances include London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Münchner Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Norske Opera and Ballet, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Staatskapelle Berlin, Czech Philharmonic and Luzerner Sinfonieorchester. In North America, Gaffigan regularly works with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Detroit Symphony Orchestra, among others.

The 2022/23 season marked Gaffigan’s final season as Principal Guest Conductor of both the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera. In 2021, he finished his tenure as Chief Conductor of the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, a position he held for 10 years, where he raised the orchestra’s international profile with highly successful recordings and tours abroad. A regular at the Metropolitan Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, and Opéra National de Paris, Gaffigan has also conducted the Zürich Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, Staatsoper Hamburg, Dutch National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Santa Fe Opera.

Gaffigan was first-prize winner of the 2004 Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition, which opened Europe’s doors to him as a young American. In 2009, he completed a three-year tenure as Associate Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, a position created for him by Michael Tilson Thomas. Prior to that, he was Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, where he worked with Music Director Franz Welser-Möst. Gaffigan is an alumnus of the Aspen Music Festival’s Aspen Conducting Academy and the Tanglewood Music Center.

Passionate about music education and a product of the New York City public school system, Gaffigan grew up in New York City and studied at the LaGuardia High School of Music and Art before pursuing his conducting studies. He believes that access to music education is the method by which America’s concert halls will finally begin to reflect our community and shrink the racial and gender gaps that exist in the performing arts today.

About Houston Grand Opera
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 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, becoming the only opera company to win all three honors.

Learn more at www.houstongrandopera.org/.

*Photo Credit: Mike Ponce

# # #