Débria Brown

Débria M. Brown (26 October 1936 – 17 December 2001) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who had an active international career that spanned five decades. She was part of the first generation of black opera singers to achieve wide success and is viewed as part of an instrumental group of performers who helped break down the barriers of racial prejudice in the opera world. She also worked occasionally as a dramatic actress on the stage and on television.

Born in New Orleans, Brown was the daughter of the Reverend Bennett G. and Eunice Brown. She attended Xavier University of Louisiana (Bachelor of Music, 1958), where she sang Cherubino in the only production Norman Treigle directed, Le nozze di Figaro, in 1957. She later studied with Katherine Dunham in New York City through a scholarship provided by the John Hay Whitney Foundation.

In 1958, Brown made her professional opera debut with the New York City Opera in the title role of Georges Bizet's Carmen, opposite her mentor, Treigle, as Escamillo. She returned to the City Opera in 1961, when she created the role of Tituba in the world premiere of Robert Ward's The Crucible, opposite Chester Ludgin. In 1958 she made her Carnegie Hall debut singing the role of Amenofi in the American Opera Society's concert presentation of Gioachino Rossini's Mosè in Egitto with conductor Arnold Gamson, and Boris Christoff in the name part.

...
Wikipedia