What does home mean to you?  Is it where you were born or where you live now?  Is it where you were baptized or where you will be laid to rest?  Is it a food, a style of music or a particular scent in the air?

In conjunction with the anniversaries of Mexican Independence and Revolution in 2010, Song of Houston explores the enduring bonds and divisions between Mexico and the United States and celebrates the incredible migration of the Monarch butterfly.

To Cross the Face of the Moon - A Mariachi Opera
HGO's 41st world premiere chronicles three generations of one family, divided by countries and by cultures.

As a young boy in the Mexican state of Michoacan, Laurentino dreamed of following the Monarch butterfly on its northward migration.  He gets his chance, as a bracero, and eventually settles with a new family in Houston, Texas.  Now an elderly man, he reflects on the meaning of home and family, and makes a final journey to the mountain to join his beloved butterflies forever.

This opera, composed for Mariachi and voices by José "Pepe" Martínez of Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan after a libretto by Leonard Foglia, will premiere in 2010.   

Our School and Community Partnerships

See what our partner schools are doing:   Neff ES   Twain ES   Lanier MS

Inspired by the Monarch's migration, HGOco and Rice University’s Center for Education bring together educational partners, community organizations and other collaborators to provide curriculum-based activities for teachers and students, create butterfly habitat gardens throughout the city and increase awareness about issues of ecology and conservation.

A Way Home - Opera to Go! and Song of Houston unite
Mexico 2010 includes the world premiere of a work for middle and high school students, available for performances in schools and community centers beginning March 15, 2010.

Composed by Ethan Frederick Greene with a libretto by Irene Keliher, this 45-minute opera tells the story of a teenaged Gracie and her father, who travel from Houston to Mexico to scatter her mother's ashes.  The spirit of Gracie's mother guides them on their epic journey.  In English and Spanish.

Visit our Opera to Go! page for information and to reserve your performance now! 

Collaborators include:
Consulate General of Mexico in Houston, Rice University’s Center for Education, USDA Forest Service - International Programs, Cockerell Butterfly Center at Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, Student Conservation Association, and University of Houston Modern and Classical Language Department.

Mexico 2010 is supported in part by:

The Humphreys Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation