January 30, 2003

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Daniel Brown, a 2002 graduate from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), was selected as one of three finalists in the North Alabama District of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions. The auditions, sponsored by Alabama OperaWorks, were held Saturday, January 25, at the Virginia Samford Theatre. The purpose of the auditions is to discover new talent for the Metropolitan Opera.

Brown, 27, will now go on to the regional competition March 8 in Memphis, Tenn. Regional competition winners will compete in New York for a chance at a $15,000 cash prize and an opportunity to join the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artists Development Program. Former winners include opera luminaries Renee Fleming, Samuel Ramey, Thomas Hampson and Deborah Voigt, said Stan Nelson, coordinator of the Alabama district auditions.

Brown sang "O du mein holder Abendstern" from "Tannhaeuser" by Wagner, and "Votre toast" from "Carmen" by Bizet, for the audition. The other winners in the Alabama audition were Nat Gunter, a senior at Birmingham-Southern College, and Courtney Ames, a doctoral student in music at Indiana University, Nelson said.

Sondra Phillips and Holly Bolton, seniors at UAB, and Natalie Bergeron and Josef McClellan, 2002 UAB graduates, also competed in the auditions, for a total of nine entrants. Brown, along with the other competitors from UAB, studied with Rachel Mathes, D.M.A., director of the opera program at UAB.

"I was more than pleased with the performances of our UAB students and alumni at this competition, and am especially proud of our talented baritone, Daniel Brown," Mathes said. "No one deserves this honor more than he and I know he will represent us well in Memphis, just as he has here in Alabama on many occasions."

Brown, of Parrish, is the son of Elaine Brown and the late James M. Brown. He was UAB's 2001 Outstanding Music Student of the Year and performed in many productions at UAB, including leading roles in Puccini's timeless "La Boheme" and Mozart's classic "Don Giovanni." Brown also was seen onstage in UAB's grand production, "The Merry Widow," which starred Troy Cook of the Metropolitan Opera and Hungarian opera star Zsuzsa Kalocsai and featured the Alabama Ballet and Alabama Symphony Orchestra. He also played a role in Opera Birmingham's production of "The Magic Flute." He is currently a graduate student in music at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

The Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program began in 1980 with the purpose of nurturing the most talented young artists through training and performance opportunities. The program offers financial aid and closely supervised artistic direction led by a team of experienced administrators and prominent artists at the Met.