$22 Million Gift Turns This Young Singers’ Night Into a Jubilant Event — Houston Grand Opera Steps Towards the Future

Houston Grand Opera’s Concert of Arias competition for young singers has been a jubilant evening since its founding 35 years ago under the patronage of the effervescent Eleanor McCollum for whom it was named. But the most recent gathering in Wortham Theater Center’s Cullen Theater topped them all with announcement that Austin-based philanthropists Sarah and Ernest Butler have created a $22 million fund within the HGO Endowment.

Announcement of the largest philanthropic investment in HGO’s 68-year history was made at the end of the concert competition by HGO general director and CEO Khori Dastoor.

“We are deeply grateful to Sarah and Ernest Butler for their vision, their decade-spanning support and leadership of HGO, and this history-making gift to secure its future,” Dastoor says. “Having gotten to know this extraordinary couple since assuming leadership at HGO, I know the careful consideration they’ve put into this strategic investment. The trust the Butlers have placed in this organization; their belief in HGO’s impact as a world-class cultural institution; their decision to invest in the company as an industry leader that nourishes the careers of the most talented young artists in the field.

“It is both inspiring and humbling.”

With that, Dastoor also revealed the renaming of the highly regarded opera studio to the Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio. That follows the creation of the Sarah and Ernest Butler Performance Series and HGO Digital after their gift of $1 million during the pandemic.

Ernest Butler is a retired otolaryngologist who founded the Austin Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic as well as Acoustic Systems, a company that manufactures booths for hearing tests, musical practice and broadcasting. They are dedicated supporters of performing arts organizations and medical foundations. One of their largest gifts was a $55 million commitment to the University of Texas School of Music in 2008.

The duo have been longtime subscribers to HGO seasons but were traveling and unable to attend the beloved Concert of Arias dinner and competition, which awards grants to winners and positions in the Houston Grand Opera Studio.

Before the announcement, the concert presented the finalists who each performed two arias and were judged by a prestigious panel that featured guest judge and Grammy-award winning soprano Isabel Leonard in a night off from her starring role as Charlotte in Houston Grand Opera’s Werther, HGO artistic and music director Patrick Summers and Dastoor. Tuning in from Los Angeles on the livestream presentation was HGO artistic advisor Ana María Martínez, who selected the recipient of her annual Ana María Martínez Encourage Award. The talented soprano is in Los Angeles singing the Countess in that city’s opera production of  Marriage of Figaro.

The competition was livesteamed worldwide with HGO Studio alumna and celebrated soprano Nicole Heaston serving as host.

Following the competition and announcement of winners and the $22 million gift, patrons among the gathering moved on to the Grand Foyer for a seated dinner in which the contestants joined the tables. Chairing the evening that saw record proceeds of more than $660,000 for the HGO Studio were decades-long opera supporters Rita Leader and Glen Rosenbaum.

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