Through Song of Houston, HGOco has launched East + West, a series of chamber operas that celebrate Houston as a meeting place for Eastern and Western cultures. A total of eight operas will be commissioned for the project.

Each chamber opera honors culture and community through storytelling and music. HGOco engages artists and individuals from different countries, allowing us to create art about, by, and for Houston's vibrant Asian cultures.

The 2011/12 Season

Music by John Glover — Libretto by Catherine Filloux

As Yani Rose Keo, an ageless Cambodian refugee, sits on a plane, she is haunted by the empty seats around her. “How will I survive?” she asks. When a Nepalese farmer, a Nigerian orphan, and a lost boy from the Sudan join Yani on the plane, her desire to help refugees like herself is launched, and they all soar toward a new life in Houston.

PUBLIC PERFORMANCES

• June 16, 2012 @ 1 p.m. — World Refugee Day Festival | Baker Ripley Neighborhood Center (6500 Rookin Street)
• June 17, 2012 @ 4 p.m. — Rothko Chapel | 3900 Yupon Street
• June 19, 2012 @ 7 p.m. — Baker Ripley Neighborhood Center | 6500 Rookin Street
  
• June 22, 2012 @ 7:30pm — Asia Society Texas Center | 1370 Southmore Blvd.
  
• June 23, 2012 @ 2 p.m. — Asia Society Texas Center | 1370 Southmore Blvd.
  
  All performances are free