An Operatic Life

Alaina Brown was 4 years old when she was cast in her first opera, a 1978 production of Madama Butterfly by the Michigan Opera Theatre at Dow Gardens in Midland.

She remembers only a few details about the performance; however, she does recall that cast members kept picking her up and sitting her back down, not unlike a doll or a bouquet of flowers. “I think I mentioned it to my mom,” Brown laughs.

“Just be still,” her mom told her.

“And I remember the singing,” Brown says. “Everyone was singing right at me, and I just loved it.”

That day was memorable for another reason. The production starred George Shirley, a trailblazing figure in the opera world: Shirley was the first African American tenor to perform at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in a leading role.
Last February, Brown, a soprano, was one of three vocalists to sing at the Detroit Public Library in “An Evening of Black Opera,” an event devoted to honoring the careers of “Black operatic pioneers.” Brown sang selections by Leontyne Price, a soprano who earned more than a dozen Grammys and, in 1964, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Over Zoom, Brown, who serves as program coordinator of education and community programs with Detroit Opera , says she thinks opportunities for Black opera singers have improved in the last few decades but are by no means perfect.

“In a lot of ways, being an African American performer, you have to be better than the best,” she says. “You have to be 150% more prepared than your counterparts.”

Brown calls opera “a way to tell a story and to share an experience.”

Her interest in opera began early. When she was a child, her mother took piano lessons; while her mother played, Brown sang along. One day, her mother’s piano teacher overheard her singing and encouraged Brown’s parents to support her talent, which ultimately led to her role in Madama Butterfly .

Brown’s parents played a lot of music in the house — classical and opera but also jazz, Motown, and gospel. She gravitated naturally toward classical music: The melodies captivated her, and as she grew older, the glamour and intrigue associated with opera grew more and more appealing, and she would imagine herself onstage.

Brown and her family lived in Midland, eventually moving to metro Detroit. Brown spent her summers at Interlochen Arts Camp, studying voice. She longed to attend the school full time, but the family couldn’t afford it — “That’s college tuition,” Brown’s mother told her — so Brown applied and got a full scholarship, graduating from Interlochen Arts Academy.

From there, Brown went on to college at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music but decided to forgo a master’s degree.

“I wanted to jump right in to see if I could start performing,” she says.

She joined the Michigan Opera Theatre (now Detroit Opera ) and was frequently hired for smaller roles on the main stage. For nearly 10 years, Brown spent her summers touring Europe in a production of Porgy and Bess , performing as both Clara and Strawberry Woman.

Now, in addition to getting her opera fix with her full-time job at Detroit Opera, she has found a new passion as a vocal teacher specializing in high school-age students.

Not all students are going to be the best singers ever, but it’s the confidence that you build in them [that makes the work rewarding],” Brown says.

Earlier in her career, Brown says, “I wanted to be an international singing sensation. I was going to go to Europe and have this huge, luxurious career, which meant I was always booked and busy and had my fur coat. But when reality sets in, there are other things I realized I could do.

“I will never stop singing,” she adds.

At the Detroit Public Library in February, Shirley came out to hear Alaina Brown and others pay tribute to Black pioneers in opera, him included. As the other performers sang, Brown could see Shirley’s face. “He was just smiling,” she says. “He just looked like a proud papa.”

This story originally appeared in the July 2024 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Our digital edition will be available on July 8.

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