Where/When: Bus leaves St. Paul’s on Thursday, April 13, at 10:20 am to tour Rice University’s Brockman Hall for Opera.

RSVP: by Tuesday April 11, to primetimers@stpaulshouston.org. Limited to the 35 participants on the bus; a wait list will begin after capacity is met.

Cost: Self-pay lunch after tour at Black Walnut Cafe in Rice Village.

Questions: primetimers@stpauls houston.org or call Rev. Melinda Owens.

On Thursday, April 13, the PrimeTimers will visit Rice University for a tour of the new Brockman Hall for Opera conducted by Shepherd School of Music Dean and St. Paul’s member Matthew Loden. Bus transportation from the church has been reserved, and the group will be limited to the 35 participants on the bus. See RSVP details at right.

With design inspiration from historic opera houses in Europe, the openness of the Royal Opera of Versailles was particularly favored for its special connection between the performers and the audience and related acoustics. This is particularly important for a university opera house because operatic voices do not mature until the singers are into their 20s, sometimes 30s. Larger performance spaces with less refined acoustics can ruin a developing voice.

The 84,000-square-foot building that debuted to the public in April 2022 with Mozart’s Don Giovanni is adjoined by a plaza to Alice Pratt Brown Hall to comprise the Brockman Music and Performing Arts Center. The Lucian and Nancy Morrison Theatre performance space is a three-tiered, 600-seat theatre with an orchestra pit for 70 musicians. This unusually large pit for a college provides professional-level experience opportunities for more instrumentalists as the vocalist students gain their experience on stage. The second level of the building holds rehearsal halls, teaching studios, and practice rooms.

It is anticipated that this new addition to Houston’s performance venues also will be utilized for social events as well as by other performing organizations, both local and touring.