“Just Took To It”
The life of a professional performer is a turbulent one. Angela Brown is a testament to this. From the day she stepped into New York City from her hometown Indiana, Angela Brown was steadfast on her path to “the vision” God had in store for her. However, like many aspiring performers in New York City, this road is one full of obstacles.
Growing up in the Midwest, Angela Brown described her childhood as a “regular life”. She found her passion for singing gospel music right away, winning several community theater awards and eventually attending Oakland College in Alabama for a B.A. in music and arts. It was at Oakland College that Ms. Brown first encountered classical music and found her natural talent as a soprano. Her path brought her to Indiana University to study under Virginia Zeane who told young Brown. “You will become the next great Verdi Soprano singer.”
Angela Brown’s grasp of classical allowed her to surpass many of the greatest in this field. But her journey as a singer was constantly filled with ups and downs. However, hitting a few rough patches in her path to “the vision” never deterred her to return home. Even after missing the Nationals Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions after three attempts, Angela Brown was steadfast to go for a fourth attempt. This time, her resilience and optimism proved to be rewarding because for the first time, she took first place at the Regional, winning a ten thousand dollar prize and finally reaching nationals in New York City.
After reaching nationals, she was turn away due to her age. However, these setbacks never blurred her own faith in “the vision” that was in store for her. After enduring six months of sleeping on the cold slab of an apartment floor in New York City, Angela Brown got her breakthrough as an understudy for the production of Aida. Ms. Angela Brown made her debut in 2004, hitting the front cover of the New York Times. Angela Brown was quoted saying, “I was born to do what I am doing now.”
Baruch College was blessed with Angela Brown’s presence in October, a few days before her appearance in Aida on November 5, 2007. Her personality warmed the entire room and made everyone at ease. Just the fact that she made time for a room of mostly business students is an acclamation of her good will and endearing soul. When Baruch College finally attended Aida, we were not shy to show our zeal and support for Angela Brown. We shouted and whistled when Angela Brown took the stage to bow. As she was leaving the stage, we could see that she was in tears, a truly humbling sight. All of us were honored to see Angela Brown finally catching up with “the vision”.