Through Song of Houston, HGOco has launched East + West, a four-year (2010-2014) celebration of Houston as a meeting place for eastern and western cultures. A series of chamber operas explores the relationship between first- and second-generation immigrants, displacement of war refugees, storytelling traditions and cultural inheritance.

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

In the 2011-2012 season, HGOco will premiere two operas as part of East + West. Please read below for more information.

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The Bricklayer

Music by Gregory Spears — Libretto by Farnoosh Moshiri

PERFORMANCES AND EVENTS

• March 3, 2012 @ 2 p.m. — Brazos Bookstore, 2421 Bissonnet | A conversation with Farnoosh Moshiri (author) and Rich Levy (executive director of Inprint)
  
  
• March 15, 2012 @ 8 p.m. (world premiere) — Cullen Theater, Wortham Center, 501 Texas Avenue | Buy tickets
  
  
• March 16, 2012 @ 8 p.m. — Arab American Cultural & Community Center, 10555 Stancliff Road
  
  
• March 18, 2012 @ 4 p.m. — Persian Nowruz Festival, Discovery Green Park, 1500 McKinney Street
  
  
• March 20, 2012 @ 6 p.m. — Baker Ripley Neighborhood Center, 6500 Rookin Street
  

New Arrivals

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.