Angela M. Brown

Angela M. Brown personifies the ideal American dramatic soprano: sheer vocal power; luxurious finesse; shimmering, high pianissimos; and a charming personality larger than life. Her highly successful Metropolitan Opera debut in 2004 received rave reviews. A noted interpreter of African American Spirituals, Miss Brown produced Mosaic, a collaborative recording featuring Spirituals with guitar and piano, in October 2004. A live Christmas concert with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and Indianapolis Opera Chorus was recorded by WFYI–PBS in 2005 and airs on PBS throughout the US each holiday season.

Miss Brown returned to the Metropolitan Opera to sing the 2007 season premiere and fall performances of Aida, and the 2008 spring performances of Un Ballo in Maschera. In the summer of 2008, she sang Verdi’s Requiem with the National Symphony of Spain in Madrid and sacred concerts at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Auckland, New Zealand. She was chosen by the Library of Congress as the featured soloist for the National Celebration of the Bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln in February and by the NAACP as the featured performer for its annual national conference.

During the 2008–2009 season, Miss Brown will sing Aida with the Cape Town Opera in South Africa and the Latvian National Symphony in Riga, as well as Verdi’s Requiem in Barcelona. She celebrated this past Christmas with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in Alabama and the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra. In early 2009, she sings Aida at Deutsche Oper Berlin, followed by performances of Leonora in Il Trovatore with the Atlanta Opera. Spring and summer of 2009 hold performances of Un Ballo in Maschera for Opéra national de Paris, where she made her debut in 2007, and Elisabetta in Don Carlo with the Cincinnati Opera.

A National Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions winner in 1997, Miss Brown received a bachelor’s degree in voice from Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, where she studied with Ginger Beazley. She attended the Indiana University School of Music, studying with Virginia Zeani. Miss Brown received the Indiana University African American Arts Institute’s inaugural Herman C. Hudson Alumni Award in 2006.