operabirmingham.org
Enjoy Opera Birmingham’s production of Opera…from a Sistah’s Point of View, featuring world renowned soprano Angela Brown. The virtual performance will stream between January 29 – February 7, and tickets are on sale now.
You can stream the performances on your computer, laptop, phone, tablet – any device with an internet connection. You may also watch it on your TV by connecting it to your MAC or PC with an HDMI cable or other streaming device.
Traveling the world as an international opera star, Brown noticed something about audiences. “I would see very few people who looked like me,” she said.
On the surface, it looked like a racial divide, but when Brown performed at schools and universities across the country, she realized the gap was bigger than race.
This compelled her to create Opera…from a Sistah’s Point of View, which dispels the myths surrounding the sometimes-intimidating art form called opera. Through her not-so-serious takes on the opera stories and by demonstrating the ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic diversity portrayed in opera characters, she helps people from all walks of life and races find themselves in and enjoy opera.
She blows up the preconceived expectations of opera by mixing show-stopping arias, poignant art songs, and moving spirituals with tongue-in-cheek commentary from a Black perspective.
The show breaks down barriers for audiences that wouldn’t necessarily include opera as a part of their entertainment options. Brown likes to say, “Opera is not about being a certain way, dressing a certain way, speaking a certain way. It’s about experiencing, and opera is for everyone!”
Her multi-genre career has been lauded on the front page of The New York Times, CNN, CBS, in Oprah Magazine and Reader’s Digest. With classical and pops engagements spanning six continents, Brown has graced the leading opera and symphonic stages of the world. Her vocal artistry is featured on the two-time Grammy Award® winning recording “Ask Your Mama.”
The concert also showcases the brilliant talent of emerging, young Black opera stars Briana Hunter, Jamez McCorkle, Victoria Okafor, and Reginald Smith, Jr., accompanied by Marie-France Lefebvre on piano. Selections will include “Dich, teure Halle” from Wagner’s Tannhäuser, “Ciel, mio padre!” from Verdi’s Aida, “Seguidilla” from Bizet’s Carmen, “Creole Girl,” “Ride On, King Jesus,” and “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” among others.
Ticket prices start at $15 and are on the “honor system” based on the number of people watching the performance. Tickets can be purchased online at www.operabirmingham.org and by calling the Opera Birmingham office at 205-322-6737.
