HGOco founding director believed music had no boundaries
Sandra Bernhard, the founding director of HGOco, Houston Grand Opera’s community and new work initiative, died Thursday at Omega House hospice after a long battle with a rare cancer. She was 56.
Bernhard, who believed music had no boundaries, came to Houston in 2007 to spearhead innovative programs with collaborators across the city and nation. She led the flagship Song of Houston Program that produced operas telling the stories of Houstonians. They included the acclaimed mariachi production “Cruzar la Cara de la Luna” (“To Cross the Face of the Moon”), “The Refuge,” “The Bricklayer,” “Pieces of 9/11 — Memories From Houston” and eight chamber operas celebrating the city’s Asian communities. HGOco also sponsored residencies.
Opera chairman John Mendelsohn, artistic and music director Patrick Summers, and managing director Perryn Leech expressed profound sorrow in a joint statement. “Sandy was a brilliant, empathic, compassionate, passionate and exhaustive force for arts education in the United States,” they said. “She leaves a powerful legacy at Houston Grand Opera.”
Bernhard was previously department chair and artistic director at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she held the J. Ralph Corbett Distinguished Chair of Opera. Starting in 1990, she spent 18 seasons at San Francisco Opera, serving as assistant director for more 40 productions, educational director from 1994 to 1996, and as an acting coach and instructor for the Merola Opera program.
Bernhard is survived by her partner, Lisa Long; her parents, Walt and Mandy Sachwitz, of Huntington Beach, California; and her brother Steve Sachwitz, his wife, Debbie Sachwitz, and their son Drew of Walnut Creek, California.
A memorial will be scheduled in the fall. Contributions in Bernhard’s memory may be made to Omega House, 602 Branard, Houston, TX 77006.