Angela Brown: The Larger than Life Woman Behind the Voice
Angela Brown is a rising star, the first Verdi soprano in fifty years. But she never saw this coming as a child growing up in Indianapolis. Singing at the age of five in her grandfather’s church, she fell in love with Gospel. She didn’t like classical music, as she said, “classical music was not my first love, it was not my second love… It was not a love at all!”
When she went to college, Ms. Brown realized she had to learn classical music to be able to study anything else. Her teacher trained her and she knew that performing was something she was born to do, so when the MET held their yearly contest, she went for it. Winning at the district level, she moved on to the regional and proceeded to the finals in NYC, and won second place. Every year she tried and every year the first place slipped out of her hands, until finally, in her fourth year, luck and talent were on her side. However, they did not have a spot for her in the young artist program because she was too old, but having won the ten thousand dollars, she decided to move to NYC to further pursue her career.
Ms. Brown was hired by the MET as a cover for a several different operas, including Aida. On October 29th, 2004, luck was once again on her side. The ailing original lead claimed she could not go on and Ms. Brown was thrown in for the last act of the opera. The next morning, splattered across the New York Times front page, “At Last an Aida”!
As she claimed, “I finally caught up with my vision!” Ms. Brown’s career can only blossom from here. Not only is she singing at the prestigious Metropolitan Opera House, but also she has her own show, “Opera from a Sister’s Point of View”. She knows that opera will not be her entire life. She admitted she won’t be able to keep up with this demanding life for long, but she has other dreams, perhaps a movie star or even a pop star, as long as she’s performing she’s happy.
Ms. Brown is an inspiration to all, proving that it takes more than just talent to get places, persistence and luck plays a big role. Just her presence proves that she is born to be an entertainer and to be the center of attention. Comfortable with herself, she spoke freely and without hesitations. I have no doubt in my mind that Ms. Brown will succeed in anything she does; perhaps comedy would fit her quite nicely.