Houston Ebony Opera proudly announces the continuation of its summer concert series. Scheduled for August 17, the next program will be Rediscovered Gems: A Concert of Masterpieces from Opera, Broadway and the Great American Songbook. Works for chorus and solo voices will be featured. Highlights of the program will include selections from Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha, Kern & Hammerstein’s Showboat and other masterworks of American music.

Included also will be music from Run, Jimmy Run, a work written by Houston composer John Cornelius in 1995. The plot of this timely and topical work concerns the trials and tribulations of a fictional African American presidential candidate.

The Rediscovered Gems concert will take place at 5 p.m., Sunday, August 17, 2008 at the Hobby Center which is located at 800 Bagby Street in Houston’s Theater District. Tickets are available at the Hobby Center Box Office. Tickets may be secured 1) by going to the box office in person during business hours; 2) by calling 713-315-2525 to order by phone and get more information; 3) online at www.thehobbycenter.org.

This concert performance by Houston Ebony Opera is co-directed by Jason Oby and Vicki Seldon. A. Jan Taylor is choral director. The roster of principal soloists includes Imani Anderson, Dorceal Duckens, Marion Moore, Jason Oby, Leon Turner, and Brenda Wimberly. Piano accompaniment will be provided by Vicki Seldon and John Cornelius.

For more comprehensive information, visit www.houstonebonyopera.org or inquire by e-mail at ebonymusic92@earthlink.net

Rediscovered Gems is a part of the Hobby Center’s Uniquely Houston series

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