Performing Arts Houston Announces Eldorado Ballroom Houston, Curated by Solange Knowles for Saint Heron
Multi-disciplinary series honoring Third Ward’s Eldorado Ballroom, and contemporary and historic Black artists, presented by Performing Arts Houston in partnership with Project Row Houses
(HOUSTON, April 15, 2025) –Solange Knowles and Saint Heron’s Eldorado Ballroom Houston unfolds in partnership with Performing Arts Houston through six luminous programs across iconic venues—Jones Hall, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the original historic Eldorado Ballroom. Each evening offers a distinct experience, blending past and present through performances that pay tribute to artistic pioneers while highlighting the innovation of today’s creators. Early access begins now for Performing Arts Houston members. Public sales begin April 22 at 10 AM CST, at performingartshouston.org.
Solange, a Houston native, and her artist collective Saint Heron unveiled the first iteration of the sold-out Eldorado Ballroom at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in 2023. Since then, Knowles has reimagined the series, bringing three additional sold-out shows and a slice of Houston’s Third Ward to Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles in October 2024. Now, Solange and Saint Heron expand on her vision to give the Eldorado Ballroom its Houston homecoming. As a critic quoted in The New York Times following the project’s debut, “with a little luck, Houston may have its own Eldorado Ballroom soon, too.”
Each event highlights a different musical focus and cast of performers, including a celebration of Black female classical composers and orchestral works, powerful convocations of devotional spiritual and gospel music, evenings at the Eldorado Ballroom exploring contemporary music and performance art, an evening honoring the roots of black folk and zydeco music, and a celebration of Houston’s musical legacy viewed through a futurist lens with a deep focus on the enduring influence of Chopped and Screwed and the innovative musical contributions from our city’s Nigerian and broader African communities. In addition to evenings of live performance, theseries includes two free screenings of Saint Heron’s film Monuments Are Here, centering Parliament Funkadelic vocalist Gene “Shady The Great” Thomas, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
“We’re thrilled to work with Solange and Saint Heron to present her vision right here in her hometown,” says Performing Arts Houston President & CEO Meg Booth. “Collaborating with Solange, Saint Heron, and Project Row Houses to shine a light on the Eldorado’s legacy of inspiring Black creativity and community with so many great artists is an enormous honor.” Performing Arts Houston, in collaboration with Eldorado Ballroom owner and operator Project Row Houses, will announce additional details in the coming weeks.
“We could not be more excited about Solange Knowles’ return to Third Ward and the Eldorado Ballroom at Project Row Houses,” says Project Row House’s Executive Director Danielle Burns Wilson. “She is so much a part of this building’s history–her creative energy has reverberated in the ballroom’s air since A Seat at the Table. Now, she’ll be back to deepen that connection and supercharge the energy in this historic venue.”
“Project Row Houses appreciates that Solange makes sure our community is always part of her story,” Wilson continues. “Solange has given us another great gift with this event – the opportunity to work with Performing Arts Houston. We look forward to exceptional artists from around the world empowering people and enriching our community through engagement, art, and direct action.”
ELDORADO BALLROOM HOUSTON SERIES OVERVIEW
On Dissonance (An Evening of Classical, Symphonic, and Opera Works)
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
7:30 PM
Jones Hall
Centered on the transformative impact of Black women in orchestral and operatic music, this full orchestra performance is a tribute to their enduring contributions to classical music. The evening features works by the esteemed late composer and educator Julia Perry, alongside symphonic compositions by Tania León, and Solange Knowles. The performance will feature musicians from the Houston Symphony conducted by Jeri Lynne Johnson, founder and Artistic Director of Philadelphia’s Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, as well as spotlight soprano Zoie Reams.
Type of Guest
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
7:30 PM
Eldorado Ballroom
Type of Guest highlights the unique space of experimental performance, tracing the fluid boundaries between music, art, and theater—between audience and performer—through powerful expressions of somatic practice. Featured are interdisciplinary Houston-born artist Autumn Knight and Dallas-native singer-songwriter and producer Liv.e, each bringing a distinct voice to this exploration.
Monuments Are Here
Thursday, June 12, 2025
5 PM & 7:30 PM
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Ticket information to be announced
Monuments Are Here is an original short film and film series produced by Saint Heron, meditating on the spiritual act of collecting. Written by Solange Knowles and directed by Nuotama Bodomo, the short film premiered at The Guggenheim, anchoring a series that features fellow visual works exploring Black domesticity, the sacred nature of collections, and the stories held within the objects we keep.
Paper in My Shoe
Saturday, June 14, 2025
7:30 PM
Eldorado Ballroom
Paper in My Shoe is Zydeco’s homecoming—a night where the Eldorado Ballroom honors the foundational contributions of Black musicians to Zydeco, Folk, and guitar-driven music through performances by Kara Jackson and Rosie Ledet. Rooted in Houston’s rich musical lineage, the evening connects the rustic spirit of Southern Americana to the voices continuing to shape and modernize the genre today.
Glory to Glory (A Revival for Spiritual and Devotional Work)
Sunday, June 15, 2025
6:30 PM
Jones Hall
Glory to Glory is an evening of faith and artistry, honoring the profound devotion found in sound, featuring Gospel icon Twinkie Clark and The Clark Sisters, the Choral and Piano Works of Mary Lou Williams performed by Artina McCain and choir conducted by Malcolm Merriweather, Angélla Christie and Dominique Johnson
Go Slow
Friday, June 20 2025
Details and Ticket information to be announced
Acclaimed Nigerian-American artist and Houston native Dozie Kanu will present a sculptural installation of an interpretive Mothership, inspired by Parliament-Funkadelic’s iconic Mothership Connection—Live from Houston (1986). Paris-based DJ and multidisciplinary artist Crystallmess will curate a mix tracing the evolution of Black southern electronic music, weaving it with both classic and contemporary Houston and West African sounds. Joining her are Houston-based sound selectors HYPERFEMME and Big Ace, whose sets will ground the night in the unmistakable pulse of the city—layered, genre-fluid, and alive.
TICKET INFORMATION
For tickets, visit performingartshouston.org/eldorado. Early access is now available for Performing Arts Houston Visionary Members, with additional access periods leading up to the public on-sale date on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Ticket prices vary by performance. Further event details to be announced in the coming weeks.
ELDORADO BALLROOM SERIES SUPPORTERS
Eldorado Ballroom Houston is made possible in part by the Performing Arts Houston Foundation, Melanie Gray and Mark Wawro, Charlene and Tym Tombar, Roxann Thomas Chargois, the Creuzot Family, Eileen and Kase Lawal, Tejuana L. Edmond, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.
ABOUT SOLANGE KNOWLES
Solange Knowles is a GRAMMY Award-winning singer, songwriter, and visual artist whose multi-disciplinary practice is spiritually rooted in world building for future generations. With the release of her critically acclaimed albums, A Seat at the Table and When I Get Home, Solange has invoked themes of identity, empowerment, grief, and healing that have resonated with millions of voices. This coupled with her work in other artistic mediums has led to a defining career of music, visual art, and activism. Solange has conducted performance art shows across the globe including at the 58th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (2019), The Getty Museum in Los Angeles (2019), Guggenheim Museum in NYC (2017), the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas (2017) and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg in Germany (2019).
In 2022, the artist composed and debuted “Villanelle For Time”, her jazz and classical score for the New York City Ballet. The artist continues to expand within new mediums of exploration and expression in curatorial practice, design, literature, and archiving, as founder and president of Saint Heron, the arts institution she founded in 2013.
ABOUT SAINT HERON
Saint Heron is a multi-disciplinary platform and institution that seeks to amplify vital voices and works in literature, art, music, and design. Saint Heron remains dedicated to empowering future practitioners of art by reverencing the spiritual act of creating and spotlighting artists’ unwavering devotion to the intergenerational language of expression.
ABOUT PERFORMING ARTS HOUSTON
Performing Arts Houston is a leading non-profit performing arts presenter dedicated to connecting audiences with exceptional artists from around the globe. Founded in 1966, the organization remains committed to advancing artistic innovation, community engagement, and cultural enrichment. With a legacy spanning over five decades, Performing Arts Houston has presented many of the most influential artists of our time.
Each year, Performing Arts Houston presents a multi-disciplinary season of over 60 performances across Houston’s historic Theater District and venues citywide and creates a wide range of programs and opportunities for students and lifelong learners to engage with and experience the arts, including masterclasses, workshops, talks, student matinees, performance avenues for local arts groups, paid arts administration internships, a commissioning series for working Houston artists, and in-school residencies. More at performingartshouston.org.
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