Joel Thompson is a trailblazer in the opera industry.
Thompson is starting a journey that blends his love of narrative, his commitment to bringing Black voices to classical music’s historically white realm, and his role as the first-ever full-time composer in residence at the Houston Grand Opera (HGO).
Thompson characterizes it as a testing ground where he may explore the nexus of his interests in service, music, and community service.
He says, “It’s just really exciting.” It’s almost a location where I can choose exactly how composition will fit into my life as an artist and strike a balance with outreach and volunteer work.
Thompson, who was raised in a Black church, was greatly impacted by the close bond between music and community.
He says, “I witnessed how music creates community and vice versa while growing up in the Black church, where music and communities have a symbiotic relationship.”
Given this background, Thompson has been attempting to infuse classical music, which frequently lacks such connections, with a comparable sense of involvement and connection. He aims to close that gap with his Coffee with the Composer series.
“I want to see if I can create that symbiosis within the classical idiom that exists in traditionally Black spaces,” he explains.
The Juneteenth 2025 song cycle that Thompson and Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton are working on is one of the most anticipated projects during his stay. Black Houstonians’ oral histories will be highlighted in the piece, giving voices that have frequently been underrepresented in the classical music community a forum.
According to Thompson, I’m constantly curious about how this art form may influence community and how community can influence this art form.
Drawing on the Gregory School and Emancipation Park Conservancy archives, the project is a component of Thompson’s broader endeavor to elevate Black voices in an art genre that has historically been dominated by Western European tales.
According to him, Black people frequently lack voices that are anchored on the classical space. It is a Western European cultural product that often concentrates on music from 1750 to 1900.
Thompson is pushing the limits of opera by basing her piece on the oral histories of actual Black Houstonians. Mouton, an opera librettist and spoken word artist, has collected 12 passages from those oral accounts and turned them into poetry, which Thompson is currently composing.
Piano, baritone, and soprano will all be featured in the song cycle. Working on these poems and attempting to integrate Black musical idioms into the vocabulary of modern classical music has been an amazing experience, as Thompson explains.
Thompson has always attempted to incorporate aspects of Black musical tradition into his songs, thus this merging of musical traditions is nothing new to him. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to incorporate Black musical idioms into the classical music language since my first piece, Seven Last Words of the Unarmed,” he added.
Creating art that speaks to those who don’t typically see themselves reflected in opera audiences—especially Black communities—is one of his main goals.
According to him, the typical audience for classical music is upper-middle-class to wealthy, white, and somewhat elderly. And how can I make work that appeals to people who look like me, given that I am the complete opposite of all those things?
The Emancipation Park Conservancy and Houston Grand Opera recently held a Coffee with the Composer event. These gatherings give a unique chance for the composer and the audience to interact as community members are asked to offer input on his works. This exchange is important to Thompson.
He claims that listening is the cornerstone of his craft. I feel that listening is the cornerstone of my art, which may sound illogical given that I’m producing the thing to be listened to.
Thompson remembers an audience member at a recent performance recommending a different rhythm for one of his compositions. As I said, it was simply wonderful to watch her embracing her creative side. I find that kind of conversation is incredibly significant because it inspires me to think about new things.
In addition to pushing the limits of opera, his work focuses on the experiences of Black communities, especially those in Houston. It’s certain that Thompson’s residence will have a significant influence on the classical music community and beyond as he gets ready for the Juneteenth cycle’s June 2025 premiere.
According to Thompson, opera doesn’t have to be this aloof, inaccessible thing. We can use it as a canvas to explore our identities, and I’m determined to ensure that those who resemble me feel included.
