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Janai Brugger performs in Houston Grand Opera’s “Intelligence.”
Ten years after composer Jake Heggie first had the idea of writing “Intelligence,” an opera based on the true story of two Civil War-era women who spied on the Confederacy, an album recording of the opera is nominated for a Grammy Award.
“I literally got up one morning, and my texts and email were flooded with people saying congratulations,” Heggie said. “A lot of them forgot to say what it was about, so I didn’t know what I had done.”
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“Intelligence,” which premiered in 2023 at Houston Grand Opera, is nominated for best opera recording. It’s the opera company’s first Grammy nomination in more than 30 years.
“For these artists, for our creative team to have this recognition and acknowledgement of this American masterpiece is tremendously meaningful for all of us,” said Khori Dastoor, the general director and CEO of Houston Grand Opera.
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The album cover for Houston Grand Opera’s Grammy-nominated “Intelligence.”
“Intelligence” tells the story of Elizabeth Van Lew, a white woman from a prominent southern family, and Mary Jane Bowser, a Black woman born into slavery, who aid union soldiers in secret during the Civil War. Bowser is sent to work and spy in the Confederate White House.
Heggie said he’s inspired by the little-known stories in American history. He first heard of Van Lew and Bowser in 2015, when he was performing at the Smithsonian, and a patron approached him with an idea for his next opera.
“Immediately, I just sort of [thought] ‘Oh no, here it comes,’ ” Heggie told Houston Public Media.
The patron told him the story of the two spies. When Heggie began researching himself, he said he knew their stories would be fit for an opera.
“Because the emotion is big enough to fill an opera house, and it makes sense for the characters to sing like this, because the stakes are so high,” he said. “It’s literally life and death at every turn. If they’re discovered with what they’re doing, they will be killed, and everyone around them will be killed.”
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Houston Grand Opera, or HGO, commissioned the opera. It took eight years of work to bring “Intelligence” to the stage in Houston in 2023.
Janai Brugger and Jamie Barton performing in “Intelligence.”
“Many people are not aware of them and how important they were, especially during the Civil War,” said Janai Brugger, who played Bowser. “So, it was nerve-wracking, but also an honor to play somebody that I had never heard of, but who had quite an impact.”
HGO was last nominated for a Grammy in 1989 for its commissioned premiere of “Nixon in China.” It also won in 1978 for its recording of “Porgy and Bess” and was nominated in 1977 for “Treemonisha.”
Houston Grand Opera’s opening night of “Intelligence.”
The Grammy nomination is also an auspicious new chapter for Houston Grand Opera. It’s the first album on the opera company’s own record label, which launched earlier this year.
“We feel that at a time when our audiences are shifting so much, when arts and culture is primarily consumed on our telephones in our pockets, that you can’t afford to not be engaging art lovers and music lovers around the world in a variety of media,” Dastoor said. “The launch of this label is really an affirmation that we will continue to put our work out to the globe and make it accessible, make opera accessible for people who may not happen to live here or may not have the opportunity to buy a ticket and attend a live performance.”
More albums are planned for HGO’s record label, including for an upcoming mariachi opera. Those records could have big shoes to fill if “Intelligence” wins the Grammy on Feb. 1, 2026.