IU music school alumna makes Carnegie Hall debut as Cassandra

IU alumna and Indianapolis native Angela Brown will debut at Carnegie Hall in New York City this week playing Cassandra in the American premiere of the opera "Agamemnon" by Russian composer Taneyev.\n"Agamemnon" is the first play of the Oresteia Trilogy of mythological stories. Brown plays a clairvoyant who foresees murders and foretells her own death, as well as the death of one of the other characters.\n"She's crazy," Brown said. "It's a brand new piece for me. It's exciting music." \nBrown was an IU vocal student of renowned soprano Virginia Zeani, a distinguished professor of voice at the IU School of Music.\n"It was a wonderful experience," Brown said. "I had a good time at IU."\nZeani said she thought Brown accomplished a lot while she was at IU.\n"She knew she had a beautiful voice, but it was difficult in the beginning to make her understand how important it is to be a great singer," Zeani said. "I was impressed by the quality of her sound. In the beginning, I had to work to convince her that this sound is very precious."\nDavid Effron, a member of the instrumental conducting faculty at IU, was the artistic director at Brevard Music Center in North Carolina where Brown sang "Tosca" in 1998 and "The Masked Ball" in 1999. \n"I enjoyed working with her very much," he said.\nAlthough Brown is now an opera singer, a different genre of music sparked her love of singing: gospel. Brown began singing in the choir of her grandfather's Baptist church when she was five years old. She sang throughout her school career and also began performing for the Indianapolis Civic Theater.\n"The theater bug had bitten me," she said.\nBrown then attended Oakwood College in Huntsville, Ala. to study voice. Although she began singing gospel, she soon discovered opera.\n"Opera chose me," she said. "I didn't choose it."\nAfter attending IU, Brown went on to perform in numerous operas, as well as many solo appearances with such groups as the Indianapolis Opera, the Auckland Philharmonia and the Cincinnati Pops. \nIn October, Brown will make her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Aida. \nZeani said she was optimistic about Angela's future as an opera singer.\n"She sounds heroic but at the same time very flexible," Zeani said. "And most importantly -- more important than music -- is the word. You have to express the word, express the phrase … She has the voice, the personality, and she likes to work."\nEffron said he was also optimistic about Brown's future. \n"I'm not surprised she's having a glorious career," he said. \nBrown said she is excited about her debut.\n"It's very exciting, and it's an honor," she said. "Everyone wants to know how to get to Carnegie Hall, and it's practice, practice, practice. It's because I've been practicing, practicing, practicing." \n--Contact staff writer Jenny Kobiela at jkobiela@indiana.edu.