It’s an opera diva—it’s a voice of African American works—it’s a media personality—it’s Angela Brown!

You don’t have to look up in the sky to experience Angela Brown’s superpowers—you can simply listen to her on a Grammy Award-winning recording or an award-winning podcast, or be lassoed in person at one of her live performances, or maybe catch her on CNN again.

With her larger-than-life personality and Amazon attitude, this Indiana University Jacobs School of Music alumna personifies the ultimate soprano—sheer vocal power, shimmering finesse, and ability to fill large halls with a single note.

And her wardrobe is far more fashionable than tights and capes. (Including some awesome bracelets even Wonder Woman would envy.)

Brown’s highly acclaimed 2004 Metropolitan Opera debut in the title role of Aida catapulted her onto the world’s most prestigious opera and symphonic stages, with banner headlines and feature articles in The New York Times, Oprah Magazine, Essence, Ebony, Classical Singer, Reader’s Digest, and Psychology Today, as well as on CBS Weekend News and CNN.

A featured artist on the two-time Grammy Award-winning recording Ask Your Mama, Brown continues to conquer audiences worldwide, commanding leading opera and symphonic stages across six continents.

She has starred in several world premieres, including A Woman’s Life by Richard Danielpour and Maya Angelou, as Addie in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird by Daniel Schnyder and Bridgette Wimberly, and as Cilla in Margaret Garner by Richard Danielpour and Toni Morrison.

Brown is also cohost, with music sociologist Joshua Thompson, of Melanated Moments in Classical Music, the podcast from Classical Music Indy spotlighting music composed by, for, and about Black people. Now in its fourth season, the show was named Best Black Music Podcast of 2020.

Among numerous other hats, from emcee to producer, Brown also sports that of artistic and educational ambassador of Indianapolis Opera.

But her most fervent endeavor is the founding and advancement of Morning Brown, Inc., a nonprofit with the mission of bridging the gap between accessible, live-music programs, and historically excluded individuals, schools, and communities.

Brown studied with renowned soprano Virginia Zeani at the Jacobs School and is a proud recipient of the Indiana University Distinguished Alumni Service Award and the Governor’s Arts Award from the Governor of Indiana, among many other honors.

Most recently, Brown added to her considerable collection as the inaugural recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts.

We wanted to congratulate her and get her thoughts on that—along with a few other things while we were at it:

What does receiving the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts mean to you?

AB: Receiving this award means that all my hard work has been seen, not only by the public that I have been standing in front of for years, but also by my peers and my family. CAAPA is family. They have been with me from the beginning, and they have acknowledged me. I feel humbled and honored to be the first one to receive this award.

This gives my foundation, Morning Brown, new momentum in reaching audiences that normally wouldn’t go to opera and help them realize they truly belong in the audience, on the stage, and behind the scenes.

What personal and what professional achievements are you most proud of?

AB: Professionally, I am proud of making my debut at the Metropolitan Opera, singing on the stages of the world, and starting Morning Brown, Inc., my foundation that helps bring culture to cultural deserts and bridges the accessibility gap between historically excluded audiences and live music performances.

This includes my signature outreach shows Opera ... from a Sistah’s Point of View and Opera ... from a Sistah’s Point of View: Generation Next, which gives young talent an opportunity to shine from my platform.

Personally, I got to marry the love of my life, Blaise Argelier, whom I met on the Paris Opera stage.

If you had not become an opera singer, what would you have wanted to become, and what do you still want to become?

AB: Had I not been an opera singer, I still would have been an entertainer or performer. I probably would have gone the route of musical theater. Music is in my blood. I can’t see myself doing anything other than what I am doing, maybe just in a different genre.

Which three people you have been the most excited to meet, and why?

AB: This career has blessed me with the opportunity to meet and get to know some incredible people: Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Phylicia Rashad, presidents, royalty, and other dignitaries of the world.

But who has influenced me the most? Mari Evans, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou.

So much so, that I have a show about these three women: Mari, Morrison, Maya, and Me. It’s an intimate, cabaret-style performance showcasing the words and poetry of these female luminaries. I perform songs specifically written for me by them or personally gifted to me from them. I tell the stories of my personal and working relationships with each one throughout the show.

What is the one thing the public may be the most surprised to know about you?

AB: Well, shug, I’m pretty much an open book! If you don’t know it, you ain’t supposed to know it. And we’ll leave it at that. <wink>

Then she quickly flew off—on to her next mission. Even supersheroes need their secrets.