Kearstin Piper Brown
Kearstin Piper Brown, praised for her “thrilling singing” (Opera Now), and recognized as “a rising talent to watch” back in 2007 (The Cincinnati Enquirer) is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after lyric sopranos in the US.
Upcoming performances in 2021-22 include Bess in New Orleans Opera’s concert production of Porgy and Bess as well as recitals with Finger Lakes Opera and a filmed version of Anthony Knight’s No Cowards In Our Band with Syracuse Opera.
In 2020, Ms. Brown previewed the lead role of Esther in Ricky Ian Gordon’s new opera Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center Theater as part of the joint LCT and Metropolitan Opera’s New Works Program. The show will continue with its regular run in 2021-22. She also appeared as Euridice in Opera Williamsburg’s video production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice and sang concerts with the Gateways Music Festival.
Other recent performances included her main stage debut with San Francisco Opera as Clara in Jake Heggie’s It’s A Wonderful Life, Pamina with Opera Williamsburg, Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with San José Chamber Orchestra as well as Arias, a multidisciplinary show, at Rochester’s Lyric Theater.
In previous seasons, Ms. Brown covered Dame Shirley in John Adam’s Girls of the Golden West with San Francisco Opera, premiered Glenn McClure’s Adirondack Folk Opera Promised Land and the Emancipation Oratorio with the Rochester Oratorio Society, sang a gala concert with Opéra Louisiane and two major roles in one season with Utah Festival Opera: Bess and Sarah in Ragtime, for which she was acclaimed by the press for her “star power” as a “gifted and strong performer”. Further engagements included her successful debut as Epiphany Proudfoot in the world premiere of Falling Angel by Mark Scearce with the Center for Contemporary Opera in New York, High Priestess in Aida with Atlanta Symphony under Robert Spano, Violetta with Lyric Opera Utah, Musetta with Dayton Opera, Micaëla with Arbor Opera Theater, Clara in Porgy and Bess at the Teatro di San Carlo in Napoli (Italy), Euridice in Gluck’s Orpheus with Opera Memphis and Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia with Cincinnati Opera, where she also portrayed 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.
Ms. Brown has performed her signature role Bess with numerous companies such as Utah Festival Opera, Opera Kazan, Skylight Music Theatre, Dayton Opera, Virginia Opera, and the Belarusian Philharmonic Orchestra Minsk. In addition, the European Porgy and Bess tour of the New York Harlem Productions brought her Bess to such prestigious venues as the Staatsoper Hamburg, 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 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 concerts at Jazz at Lincoln Center, with the American Spiritual Ensemble, and she toured with the 3 Mo’ Divas (sister group of the 3 Mo’ Tenors). Further highlights of Ms. Brown’s performances as a soloist include concerts under the auspices of Cincinnati Opera and Opera Ebony, a gala of American music with the Moscow City Orchestra, 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 Lebanon Symphony, 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. She 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.
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 (3rd prize), the William Matheus Sullivan Foundation 2010, and the Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition 2011.