BIOGRAPHY
Award-winning American soprano Kearstin Piper Brown has been hailed by Variety as “mesmerizing” and by The Wall Street Journal as “eloquent,” captivating audiences around the world with her distinctive artistry, radiant voice, and emotional depth. She has graced leading opera houses and concert stages across the United States and abroad, earning acclaim for her versatility in both classic and contemporary repertoire.
This season, Ms. Brown makes her highly anticipated return to the Metropolitan Opera, covering the role of Bess in Porgy and Bess. She also makes her Utah Opera debut as Wendy Torrance in Mark Campbell and Paul Moravec’s The Shining. Additional engagements include performances with Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity in New York City in Cantata BWV 52, Handel’s Messiah at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, and Frank Ferko’s Stabat Mater with Cantori New York. She will also debut with the Tulsa Symphony and reprise the role of Poppea in The Comet/Poppea.
Last season, Kearstin made a remarkable impression in her Portland Opera debut as Alice Ford in Falstaff, followed by a lauded appearance as Mimì in La Bohème with Opera San Jose, a role she also covered at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She appeared at Lincoln Center with the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC) as Poppea in The Comet/Poppea. On the concert stage, she has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra alongside Thorgy Thor and the Thorchestra, First Inversion in Holding On Through Song, and the Mahogany Chamber Music Series in Memphis. She is also deeply committed to arts education, recently performing in An Evening of Bacharach to support public school music programs in Rochester, NY.
Ms. Brown has received high praise for her interpretation of modern operas and has become one of the foremost interpreters of new American works. Her portrayal of Esther in Lynn Nottage and Ricky Ian Gordon’s Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center Theater—featured on PBS Great Performances—earned her a World Theater Award and nominations from the Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel Awards, Outer Critics Circle, and Antonyo Awards. She has created and reimagined roles in groundbreaking contemporary works including Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Metropolitan Opera), It’s a Wonderful Life (San Francisco Opera), The Walkers (Proximity), Lyric Opera of Chicago, This Little Light of Mine: The Story of Fannie Lou Hamer (Santa Fe Opera), The Shining (Atlanta Opera and Opera Parallèle), and Two Corners (Finger Lakes Opera). She also appears on the immersive opera recording No One is Forgotten by Winter Miller, Paola Prestini, and Sxip Shirey with The Dallas Opera.
Kearstin’s operatic repertoire spans an impressive range of leading roles, including Nedda (I Pagliacci, Florida Grand Opera), Musetta (La Bohème, New Orleans Opera and Dayton Opera), Micaëla (Carmen, Indianapolis Opera), Anne Trulove (The Rake’s Progress, Lakes Area Music Festival), Violetta (La Traviata, Utah Lyric Opera), Gilda (Rigoletto, Opera Southern), Euridice (Orfeo ed Euridice, Opera Memphis and Opera in Williamsburg), Pamina (The Magic Flute, Opera in Williamsburg), and Clara (Porgy and Bess, Teatro di San Carlo).
Her portrayal of Bess in Porgy and Bess has earned her worldwide recognition. She has performed the role with Opera Kazan, New Orleans Opera, Dayton Opera, Virginia Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Skylight Music Theatre, and the Belarusian State Philharmonic Orchestra in Minsk. As part of the European tour with New York Harlem Productions, she brought her Bess to such prestigious venues as the Hamburgische Staatsoper, Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Komische Oper Berlin. She also toured with Cape Town Opera, performing the role at the Edinburgh Festival and London’s Royal Festival Hall.
Equally in demand on the concert stage, Ms. Brown has performed with the Dallas Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Oregon Symphony, National Philharmonic, Pasadena Symphony, San José Chamber Orchestra, and at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Palais Augarten in Vienna, the Residentie Orkest in The Hague, and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. She has appeared with the Gateways Music Festival, New York Festival of Song, Skaneateles Festival, Berkshire Opera Festival, and the Rochester Early Music Festival with First Inversion. Her concert and oratorio repertoire includes Messiah (Handel), Ein Deutsches Requiem (Brahms), Ninth Symphony (Beethoven), Magnificat and Christmas Oratorio (Bach), Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (Barber), Dona Nobis Pacem (Vaughan Williams), and Ballad of the Brown King (Margaret Bonds).
Kearstin’s versatility as both an actress and singer was evident early in her career when she starred as Sarah in the Light Opera Works Chicago regional premiere of Ragtime, earning recognition from the Black Theater Alliance. She later reprised the role to great acclaim with the Utah Festival Opera and has also appeared in productions at Arena Stage, Studio Theatre, and Round House Theatre.
Beyond the stage, Ms. Brown is a passionate advocate for community, representation, and access in classical music. She proudly serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Gateways Music Festival, which celebrates the contributions of classical musicians of African descent. She is also a board member of the William Warfield Scholarship Fund at the Eastman School of Music, and a dedicated member of Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity.