John Brown, Director of Choral Activities at UWA, is a Sumter County native, hailing from "across the river" in York.  After graduating from the Alabama School of Fine Arts Brown made his professional operatic debut in 1982.  For the next 15 years he sang leading roles in such diverse works as Die Zauberfloete, Carmen, Aida, Turandot, Tosca, Fidelio, Le Nozze Di Figaro,   and Ariadne auf Naxos.  He created the role of Bill in the world premiere of The Ransom Of Red Chief, an operatic adaptaion of the O. Henry short story.  Composer Gian Carlo Menotti selected Brown to create the role of Dr, Shrink in his new opera The Boy Who Grew Too Fast, for the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds.  Contemporary music became a specialty for Brown and he quickly added roles in Albert Herring, The Crucible, The Saint Of Bleeker Street, The Consul and the demanding Lenny in Of Mice And Men, to his repertoire.  As a concert soloist he sang an equally diverse repertoire ranging from Handel's Messiah, Haydn's The Creation, Beethoven's Mount Of Olives and Bach's Magnificat to Honnegger's King David, Britten's Saint Nicholas and Orff's Carmina Burana. 

 

Even while an active performer Brown was deeply interested in arts education.  He participated in educational tours with the Birmingham Civic Opera, Opera Carolina Theatre and the Tarradiddle Players.  He has taught musical theatre classes at the Children's Theatre of Charlotte and the Sumter Theatre Workshop, which he co-founded.  He collaborated on original productions of

Jack and The Beanstalk and the Bremen Town Musicians and co-authored the puppet opera,

The Sound of Moosic, which toured with Opera Carolina Theatre and  Chatauqua Opera. 

 

John broke from his operatic roots in 1992 with performances of the biker Eddie in The Rocky Horror Show.  He followed that with performances in Rags, Follies, The Sound of Music, Oliver,  and many more.  As a music director he has led performances of Annie, Man Of La Mancha, Big River, Little Shop of Horrors, Ain't Misbehavin, Godspell, Oliver, Peter Pan, Snoopy and Jerry's Girls, to name a few.

 

Since returning to Sumter County John Brown has stayed busy!  He serves as Director of Worship Arts at Livingston's First Presbyterian Church where he directs four choirs.  Two of the choirs,  The Festival Choir and the canticle Singers have traveled to NYC to perform in Carnegie Hall.  John is music director for the Sumter Theatre Workshop and serves on the Board of Directors for the Coleman Centre for Arts and Culture.  Recent performances include Carmina Burana with the Meridian Symphony, Cavalleria Rusticana and Mount of Olives with the Tupelo Symphony and Amahl and the Night Visitors with OperAlbany, where he was stage director as well as singing the role of King Kaspar.