Houston Grand Opera has announced a new partnership with the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

The new partnership will foster cultural exchange and collaboration between the two internationally recognized opera houses. The partnership will launch on Jan. 26, 2025 at the Liceu’s 62nd Tenor Viñas International Singing Competition. There, thanks to the generosity of the Torras Foundation and Ignacio and Isabel Torras, HGO will present the Torras Family Foundation Prize of $25,000 to a finalist whose voice and artistry demonstrate potential for an international career in opera. Colin Michael Brush, Director of the Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio, the company’s elite training program for young artists, will travel to Barcelona to select the first winner of the annual prize.

In addition to the cash prize, HGO’s designated winner will receive automatic entry, as a 2026 semifinalist, to the company’s 38th annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers Concert of Arias.

In a statement, HGO General Director & CEO Khori Dastoor said, “HGO is an international company serving a vast, diverse metropolis where people from across the world live and do business. With this new partnership, we seek to build upon Houston’s emerging identity as a global hub, attracting the finest young artists from around the world to Houston while welcoming international audiences from throughout our city to the Wortham Theater Center to experience our art form. We are thrilled to join forces with our close colleagues at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in support of emerging talent, and, thanks to the generosity and vision of the Torras Foundation, identify an outstanding talent whose potential, passion, and excellence mirror the standards we hold at HGO.”

Gran Teatre del Liceu Artistic Director Víctor Garcia de Gomar added, “We are very pleased to begin a collaboration with Houston Grand Opera, providing support and guidance to a promising young talent. In doing so, we are not only fulfilling the main goal of the Tenor Viñas Competition, to discover young singers, but also supporting them in the early stages of their careers in a practical and meaningful way.”