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Title: Tona Brown The singer/violinist talks about refusing to be defined by voice coac
Post by: Shana A on June 15, 2011, 07:49:05 AM
Post by: Shana A on June 15, 2011, 07:49:05 AM
Tona Brown
The singer/violinist talks about refusing to be defined by voice coaches, the canon, or biology
By Baynard Woods
Published: June 15, 2011
http://citypaper.com/music/tona-brown-1.1161697 (http://citypaper.com/music/tona-brown-1.1161697)
Tona Brown is an African-American opera singer and classical violinist. To hear her rich mezzo-soprano voice, you would never guess that she was born a man. When Norfolk, Va., native Thomas Brown, as Tona was known at the time, started singing his vocal coaches told him that a man should not sing mezzo-soprano. Brown, certain of her range, eventually became certain of her identity. Sometime during her voice and violin studies at Old Dominion and the Shenandoah Conservatory, Brown gradually began to identify as trans, in part she says because "people at auditions thought I was a woman anyway." She came out as a transgender artist in 2006, when she went on a national tour with the ->-bleeped-<- Road Show and now works as an advocate for transgender issues. Based in Baltimore for almost two years, she is a founding member of the Aida String Quartet and performs both locally and nationally. Last month, she was the first classical musician to ever perform at the Out Music Awards, sometimes called the "queer Emmys." While on her way to a performance in the Midwest, Brown answered a few questions by phone.
The singer/violinist talks about refusing to be defined by voice coaches, the canon, or biology
By Baynard Woods
Published: June 15, 2011
http://citypaper.com/music/tona-brown-1.1161697 (http://citypaper.com/music/tona-brown-1.1161697)
Tona Brown is an African-American opera singer and classical violinist. To hear her rich mezzo-soprano voice, you would never guess that she was born a man. When Norfolk, Va., native Thomas Brown, as Tona was known at the time, started singing his vocal coaches told him that a man should not sing mezzo-soprano. Brown, certain of her range, eventually became certain of her identity. Sometime during her voice and violin studies at Old Dominion and the Shenandoah Conservatory, Brown gradually began to identify as trans, in part she says because "people at auditions thought I was a woman anyway." She came out as a transgender artist in 2006, when she went on a national tour with the ->-bleeped-<- Road Show and now works as an advocate for transgender issues. Based in Baltimore for almost two years, she is a founding member of the Aida String Quartet and performs both locally and nationally. Last month, she was the first classical musician to ever perform at the Out Music Awards, sometimes called the "queer Emmys." While on her way to a performance in the Midwest, Brown answered a few questions by phone.