Dine-and-Discover Meetings and Events
Our meeting date is the last Wednesday of the month. Special event dates will be announced. RSVPs are due by noon on the Monday prior to each meeting as online registration automatically closes at that time. If registration is closed and you find you can attend, please contact Mary Abshier to check on seating availability.
Below is a menu of programs that are sure to satisfy any intellectual appetite. Join HFCW’s meetings where lifetime learners gather. Be a part of our long history of sharing wit and wisdom with HFCW members and their guests since 1974.
Questions? Contact Mary Abshier at marketing@hfcw.org or 281-923-9241
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Discover the Houston Grand Opera and Its Amazing Outreach
Wednesday, July 26, 2023 @ 11:15 am - 1:00 pm
PROGRAM
Did you know that Houston Grand Opera is one of the few opera companies that creates a brand-new opera for world debut each year? This keeps the art form modern and alive. Did you know that HGO runs a summer camp and produces Storybook Operas and Opera-to-Go! for children? HGO’s Seeking the Human Spirit series celebrates our city’s diversity with in-depth workshops, conversations, residencies, and concerts focused on contemporary issues. One example is Giving Voice, a celebration of Black opera singers singing arias, gospel, and spirituals at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. Houston Grand Opera has one of the best opera apprentice programs in the world, HGO Studio, which just received a $22 million endowment – a grand investment in the future of opera. Find out more about how Houston Grand Opera is connecting with the Houston community.
SPEAKER
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Jennifer Bowman joined Houston Grand Opera (HGO) in July 2022 as Director of Community and Learning. She leads HGO’s strategy and development of initiatives such as the creation of new operas and programming, as well as performances and events for students, families, and educators in our community.
Formally with the Kennedy Center’s Director of Music Education, Bowman developed performance programming and educational initiatives in collaboration with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), Washington National Opera (WNO), and the Center’s hip-hop, jazz, and chamber music programs. She served as the Center’s lead representative for the Washington Musical Pathways Initiative for young Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) artists wishing to pursue advanced study in music. She spearheaded WNO’s 18-month community engagement project in support of Blue, an opera about a Harlem family’s experience with police brutality. She also revamped the Center’s training programs for young musicians, commissioned new works that reflected the population of the region, and introduced youth and family audiences to diverse artists. The Houston native’s career began at the Kennedy Center, where she coordinated professional development programs for more than 600 arts and cultural organizations in the US and abroad. She also spent six seasons managing The Folger Consort, the early music ensemble at the Folger Shakespeare Library. In 2020, she co-led Music Academy of the West’s transition to an online summer festival in response to the pandemic. Bowman is an alum of the Sphinx LEAD (Leaders in Excellence, Arts and Diversity) program, and serves on the board of the Soul Defined Percussive Dance Ensemble and National Instrumentalists Mentorship and Advancement Network. Bowman graduated from Dartmouth College and the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. |
If you plan to attend, please RSVP to marketing@hfcw.org.