Meet Joel Thompson Houston’s Grand Opera’s first full-time Composer-In-Residence

Joel Thompson is breaking new ground in the world of opera. 

As the first-ever full-time composer in residence at the Houston Grand Opera (HGO), Thompson is embarking on a journey that combines his passion for storytelling, community engagement, and dedication to incorporating Black voices into classical music’s traditionally white-dominated space. 

Thompson describes it as a “laboratory” where he can experiment with the intersection of his passions—music, community outreach, and service. 

“It’s just really exciting,” he says.  “It’s almost like a place for me to figure out the exact role that composition will play in my life as an artist and balancing that with outreach and community service.”

Born and raised in the Black church, Thompson was deeply influenced by the strong connection between music and community. 

“Growing up in the Black church where music and communities are in a symbiotic relationship, I saw how music creates community and vice versa,” he explains. 

With this background, Thompson has been working to bring a similar spirit of connection and engagement into classical music, where such interactions are often absent. His Coffee with the Composer series is an attempt to bridge that gap. 

“I want to see if I can create that symbiosis that exists in traditionally Black spaces within the classical idiom,” he says.

One of the most anticipated projects in Thompson’s residency is his collaboration with Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton on a Juneteenth 2025 song cycle. The piece will spotlight the oral histories of Black Houstonians, providing a platform for voices that have often been marginalized in the classical music world. 

“I’m always interested in how this art form can create community and how community can shape this art form,” Thompson explains. 

The project, which draws from the archives of the Gregory School and the Emancipation Park Conservancy, is part of Thompson’s larger effort to center Black voices in an art form historically dominated by Western European narratives. 

“Often, Black people don’t have voices centered in the classical space,” he said. “It’s a cultural product of Western Europe and usually focuses on music from 1750 to 1900.”

By using the oral histories of real Black Houstonians as the foundation of this work, Thompson is pushing the boundaries of opera. Mouton, a spoken word artist and opera librettist, has compiled 12 excerpts from those oral histories, transforming them into poems that Thompson is now setting to music. 

The song cycle will feature soprano, baritone, and piano. As Thompson describes, “It’s been a great experience working on these poems, trying to incorporate Black musical idioms into the language of contemporary classical music.”

This blending of musical styles is not new for Thompson, who has always sought to intertwine elements of Black musical tradition into his compositions. “From my first piece, ‘Seven Last Words of the Unarmed,’ until now, I’ve been trying to figure out how to incorporate Black musical idioms into the classical music language,” he said.

One of his primary aims is to create art that resonates with people who don’t traditionally see themselves represented in opera audiences—particularly Black communities. 

“When one thinks of a classical music audience, it’s usually upper-middle-class to wealthy, white, and fairly old,” he said. “And as someone who is the opposite of all those things, how can I create art that appeals to people who look like me?”

“Often, Black people don’t have voices centered in the classical space,” he said. “It’s a cultural product of Western Europe and usually focuses on music from 1750 to 1900.”– Joel Thompson Houston’s Grand Opera’s first full-time Composer-In-Residence

Houston Grand Opera and Emancipation Park Conservancy recently hosted a Coffee with the Composer event. During these events, community members are invited to provide feedback on his compositions, offering a rare opportunity for a dialogue between the composer and the audience. For Thompson, this interaction is crucial. 

“The foundation of my craft is listening,” he says. “It seems counterintuitive since I’m creating the thing to be listened to, but I believe that listening is the foundation of my craft.” 

During a recent event, Thompson recalls an audience member suggesting an alternative rhythm for one of his pieces. “It was just great to see her tapping into her creative instinct as I shared. That sort of dialogue is really important to me—it awakens new ideas in myself.”

His work not only pushes the boundaries of opera but also centers the experiences of Black communities, particularly those in Houston. As he prepares for the premiere of the Juneteenth cycle in June 2025, it’s clear that Thompson’s residency will have a lasting impact, both within the world of classical music and far beyond.

“Opera doesn’t have to be this distant, untouchable thing,” Thompson says. “It can be a canvas for us to explore who we are, and I’m committed to making sure that people who look like me know they have a place in this space too.”