HGO Studio Soprano Villalón Predicts ‘Renewed Longing for Performance’

Villalón wears a Badgley Mischka dress from Tootsies.

Villalón wears a Badgley Mischka dress from Tootsies.

Soprano Elena Villalón, 22, a 2019 Grand Finals winner of the esteemed Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, has spent the past year making a name for herself as one of the youngest members ever of Houston Grand Opera’s artist development program HGO Studio. In January, the ingenue dazzled in the role of Inès in La favorite, which saw her gracing the stage opposite opera star Jamie Barton. “The cast was really great,” says Villalón of the experience. “Everyone was incredible at their jobs.”


While her on-stage experience will look and feel a little different in the fall — HGO recently announced it is canceling productions through April 2021 due to Covid-19 precautions — she remains optimistic for the future. “It is my hope that the Houston community has a renewed longing for live performance, that audiences will be more present and open, and not take for granted access to the world class art that Houston has to offer.”

Click here to see the full 2020 portfolio.

Villalón wears a Badgley Mischka dress from Tootsies. 

Style
Our Favorite Restaurants Now!

Gulf Red Snapper at The Annie

These CityBook partners are among the best eateries in the most deliciously diverse city.

Keep Reading Show less
Food

Cyndy Garza Roberts, Stephanie Ramos, Michele Leal Farah, Vicky Dominguez and Leisa Holland Nelson Bowman

WITH A GOAL of ensuring access to quality healthcare for underserved families in Houston’s East End, El Centro de Corazón has been making a difference for 30 years. Its annual Making a Difference luncheon, this year chaired by Vicky Dominguez with honorary chairs Leisa Holland Nelson Bowman and Leila Perrin, raised more than $150,000.

Keep Reading Show less
Parties

ONE CANNOT ACCUSE Houston’s Axiom Quartet of playing it safe. When it comes to exploring the outer limits of string quartet repertoire, engaging audiences who don’t normally attend classical music concerts, and putting in the collective time necessary to nail the gnarly idiosyncrasies of 20th- and 21st-century composers, Axiom continues to walk the walk as they talk the talk.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment