Angela Brown's OPERA…FROM A SISTAH’S POINT OF VIEW Makes Debut

Receiving standing ovations on some of the most celebrated stages in the world, internationally known opera star Angela Brown has astonished opera lovers and critics alike with her powerful vocals, lavish elegance and magnetic allure. A natural performer whose gifted soprano voice and exuberant personality are unforgettable the moment you meet her, Brown's new album, "Opera...from a Sistah's Point of View" debuted as the #1 downloaded album for the week of its release on The Weather Channel Music.

Newly-released December 1st on The Weather Channel Music and available for full download at http://www.theweatherchannelmusic.com/album_detail.html?id=154, Brown's latest album presents an incredible live concert of her popular one-woman program "Opera...from a Sistah's Point of View". Recorded earlier this year on the campus of her alma mater, Indiana University, Brown's live performance of "Opera...from a Sistah's Point of View" bubbles with the Indianapolis native's witty commentary, show-stopping arias and moving African-American spirituals that unravel common myths about opera and classical music, bringing audiences the essence of opera with a modern-day perspective. Over 20 tracks, the acclaimed Verdi soprano enraptures listeners on a journey of drama, mayhem, romance, and history, intertwining music and performance in a way they haven't heard before.

"The biggest misconception about opera is that it's only geared towards elitist audiences," explains Brown on creating her program to bring awareness of opera to wide-ranging audiences. She relates, "Anybody can really enjoy an opera. Opera is about rich and poor. It's about love, heartbreak, family, friends, lovers, hard times and happy times. There are stories set in Africa, Asia, Spain, Italy, America and elsewhere; it's about all audiences."

Through her solo performance "Opera...from a Sistah's Point of View," Brown has educated all ages and all races about opera, breaking racial barriers by erasing opera's widespread falsehoods and opening young minds to the possibility of becoming opera singers and sparking interest in others. She has performed the program before kids, college students, and adults around the world, to minority and mainstream audiences who sometimes have never been exposed to opera before, and reclaiming the classics and opera for new audiences continues to be a passionate mission for her. Presenting the sonic gifts of the masterful composers Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Richard Danielpour and more, Brown's one-of-a-kind performance on this album has led one writer to declare of the release, "Angela Brown forecast: Verdi with a chance of sass" (Simply-Showbiz.com).

From singing in church, and earning her Bachelor of Music degree in voice at Oakwood College under the tutelage of noted teacher Ginger Beazley, to doing graduate studies in music at Indiana University, Brown has been involved in various aspects of music performance and genres. A noted interpreter of African-American spirituals, in 2004 Brown recorded and produced the album Mosaic: A Collection of African American Spirituals with piano and guitar on Albany Records.

Delighting audiences worldwide, Brown also made an acclaimed debut on the world-renowned stage of New York's Metropolitan Opera (MET) in 2004 as Aida, leading a New York Times writer to exclaim "At last an Aida" and CBS Evening News to declare "The future of opera has arrived," among other accolades. Also a winner of the prestigious Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1997, Brown's performances worldwide include concerts and operas with the National Opera of Paris, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and Indianapolis Opera Chorus, the Cape Town Opera in South Africa, Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bilbao Opera, Spain, The Library of Congress, NAACP and more.

This past season, among many performances Brown opened the "One Nation Working Together" rally with a moving performance of the National Anthem; sang in Shanghai at the World Expo 2010 as a guest of USA Pavilion and the United States Consulate; made her debut with the Hamburg Opera and Vienna State Opera; and performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony and The Philadelphia Orchestra to premiere the song cycle "A Woman's Life", which was written especially for her by American composer Richard Danielpour and celebrated author Dr. Maya Angelou. In fall 2009, Angela received the Governor's Arts Award from the Governor of Indiana, a Spirit of the Prairie Award from Conner Prairie in Indiana, and was inducted into the Indianapolis Public Schools Hall of Fame.

Angela Brown's new album "Opera...from a Sistah's Point of View" can be downloaded at http://www.theweatherchannelmusic.com/album_detail.html?id=154. "Opera ...from a Sistah's Point of View" is set to be released on iTunes and Amazon.com in January, with a DVD of the concert coming in 2011 as well.