Kearstin Piper Brown – lyric soprano

Kearstin  Piper  Brown began  the  2011-12  season  as  Musetta  in  La  Bohème with  Dayton  Opera, following her triumphant performance of Bess in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess the previous season. She also made her debut as Micaëla in Carmen with Arbor Opera Theater under the direction of  Robert  Swedberg,  returned  to  the role of Bess in another original production, this time with Virginia Opera, sang Clara in Porgy and Bess at the Teatro di San Carlo in Napoli (Italy), and made her role debut as Violetta with Lyric Opera Utah. Future engagements will bring her to Minsk, where she will sing Bess with the Belarusian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Ms Brown has appeared around the world in critically acclaimed opera performances, including Euridice in Gluck’s Orpheus with Opera Memphis and Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia with Cincinnati Opera, where she also sang the role of Mrs. McDowell in the world premiere of Rise for Freedom: John P. Parker Story by composer Adolphus Hailstork and Masha in Richard Wargo’s comic one-act opera The Music Shop. The European Porgy and Bess tour of the New York Harlem Productions brought her as Bess to such prestgious venues as the Hamburgische Staatsoper, the Semperoper Dresden, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and the Komische Oper Berlin. Another important touring production of the Gershwin classic was with Cape Town Opera, where she premiered the leading role in 2009 and subsequently went on tour to the Edinburgh Festival, the Royal Festival Hall London and the Israeli Opera.

The versatile soprano has also sung with the American Spiritual Ensemble, toured with the 3 Mo’ Divas (sister group of the 3 Mo’ Tenors), and scored an early success as Sarah in the Light Opera Works Chicago regional premiere of Ragtime, earning her a “Best Actress in a Musical” nomination from the Black Theater Alliance of Chicago. In addition she has appeared in theater productions with the Studio Theater, Roundhouse Theatre, Arena Stage, and the Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences.

Some highlights of Ms. Brown’s performances as a concert soloist include the Festival Classique’s Opera Under the Stars Concert with the Residentie Orkest in The Hague and the Edison Awards Gala 2010 with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, both of which were televised live in the Netherlands, as well as concerts with the Pasadena Symphony and Pops Orchestra, the Cedar Rapids Chorale and Symphony, and the Hines-Lee Opera Ensemble in the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.

Ms Brown holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Literature from Northwestern University School of Music. She was a Young Artist at the International Institute of Vocal Arts in Italy, the Opera Colorado and the Utah Festival Opera, as well as Artist-in-Residents with Dayton Opera, Opera Memphis and Cincinnati Opera. She has been a prize winner in several international competitions, including the Montserrat Caballé International Singing Competition 2009 (3^rd prize), the William Matheus Sullivan Foundation 2010, and most recently, the Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition 2011.