(photo credit: © Miguel Lorenzo)

James Gaffigan will be the fifth Music Director of the Houston Grand Opera (HGO).

The company made the announcement on Nov. 6, 2025, noting that Gaffigan will begin his tenure as Music Director Designate in the 2026–27 season before assuming the full role in 2027–28.

While Gaffigan is a New York native, he is also a graduate of Houston’s Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he got his master’s degree while studying with Larry Rachleff.

He made his HGO debut in 2011, leading his first-ever American opera engagement with “The Marriage of Figaro” before returning for subsequent performances in 2025 to conduct “Porgy and Bess.” Gaffigan, who has also performed with such organizations as The Metropolitan Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opéra National de Paris, Zürich Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, among others, also led the HGO Orchestra’s debut performance at the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers Concert of Arias earlier this year.

In addition to his new position as Music Director at HGO, Gaffigan currently serves as General Music Director of Komische Oper Berlin and Music Director of the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra. He also recently concluded his tenure as Music Director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia.

“I always knew that the first post I would take in the United States as Music Director had to be the perfect fit,” Gaffigan, who has also led performances with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and leading European ensembles such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, and London Symphony Orchestra, said per an official press release. “All the boxes needed to be ticked. As I considered which institution, which city, and which community aligned with my dreams and goals for an American institution, I found HGO to be my ideal partner. In my opinion, HGO is the most exciting opera company in the United States. It is rare to find such a healthy institution, with tremendous potential, and a solid foundation on which to build.

Gaffigan’s initial term will run through 2031–32, following in the legacy of past HGO Music Directors Charles Rosekrans (1971–75), John DeMain (1979–94), Vjekoslav Sutej (1994–97), and Patrick Summers (1998–2026).