Houston Grand Opera presents the sixth annual Giving Voice concert, in partnership with Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. This year’s event, held during Black History Month, will honor the legacy of the country’s historically Black colleges and universities as an important training ground for Black artists in classical music and opera.

The evening will be emceed by Ruth J. Simmons, Distinguished Presidential Fellow at Rice University; Adviser to the President of Harvard University on HBCU Initiatives; and former President of Prairie View A&M University, Brown University, and Smith College.

Giving Voice will feature a program of arias and songs performed by operatic soloists including HGO favorite, Butler Studio alumnus, WABC member, and Grammy Award-winning baritone Reginald Smith, Jr.; one of today’s most impressive young dramatic tenors, Issachah Savage; and two talented first-year members of HGO’s Butler Studio, soprano Elizabeth Hanje and bass-baritone Sam Dhobhany.

The concert also will feature choral works by a mass choir of singers from Texas Southern University, Jackson State University, WABC, the Houston Ebony Opera Guild, and Voices of Houston.