Editing Houston Grand Opera (section)

== Young Artist Training ==

=== Butler Studio ===
Houston Grand Opera's young artist development program, The Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio, was founded in 1977 to help young artists make the transition between their academic training and professional careers. The Butler Studio primarily trains young singers and pianist/coaches but has also trained aspiring conductors in a residency program of up to three years. An annual competition, now called the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, was inaugurated in 1989 to help identify a pool of potential international artists for the Studio. Studio alumni include sopranos Jan Grissom, Marquita Lister, [[Ana María Martínez]], Edrie Means, [http://eriemills.com/ Erie Mills], [[Albina Shagimuratova]], [http://www.heidistober.com/ Heidi Stober], [[Rachel Willis-Sørensen]], and [[Tamara Wilson]]; mezzo-sopranos [[Jamie Barton (singer)|Jamie Barton]], [[Joyce DiDonato]], [[Denyce Graves]], [[Susanne Mentzer]], and [http://www.barrettartists.com/artist.php?id=msimpson&aview=bio Marietta Simpson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101181823/http://www.barrettartists.com/artist.php?id=msimpson&aview=bio |date=2017-11-01 }}; tenors [[Bruce Ford (tenor)|Bruce Ford]], Carroll Freeman and [https://web.archive.org/web/20160513051006/http://normanreinhardt.com/ Norman Reinhardt]; baritones [http://richardpaulfink.com/ Richard Paul Fink], and [http://www.rayfieldallied.com/artists/scott-hendricks/ Scott Hendricks]; bass-baritones [[Greer Grimsley]], [http://www.ryanmckinny.com/en/ Ryan McKinny] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628191441/http://www.ryanmckinny.com/en/ |date=2018-06-28 }}, and [[Eric Owens (bass-baritone)|Eric Owens]]; and bass [[Eric Halfvarson]]. Other alumni include HGO Chorus Master Richard Bado, composer/conductor [http://www.composerscollab.org/artists_cci/music_source/hanlon-david.html David Hanlon], former Lyric Opera of Kansas City Artistic Director Ward Holmquist, conductor/arranger/composer [[James Lowe (conductor)|James Lowe]], conductor/pianist Eric Melear, conductor [http://www.evanrogister.com/#about Evan Rogister], and conductor/pianist Craig Terry.

In 2023 Sarah and Ernest Butler made a transformational gift to Houston Grand Opera, the largest in company history, by creating a new fund within the HGO Endowment. To honor their commitment to supporting excellence in the arts and the future of opera, the Houston Grand Opera Studio was renamed the Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio. <ref>https://www.houstongrandopera.org/butler-studio</ref>

=== Young Artists Vocal Academy ===
The HGO Young Artists Vocal Academy, established in 2011 and administered by the HGO Studio, is a one-week intensive program for undergraduate vocal music students. Participants selected for the program receive training that includes daily voice lessons and coachings as well as classes in characterization, movement, diction, and score preparation.

HGOco (see below) offers training to high school juniors and seniors.