Boston Singers' Resource News Bulletin, March 30, 2005

Hartford area soprano Jolie Rocke Brown holds a Master‚s Degree from Loyola College, Baltimore, MD, and is in a Doctoral program at the School of Music at the University o f Connecticut at Storrs. A 2000 NorthEast District winner of the Leontyne Price Vocal Arts Competition, she made her European debut in July, 2002, as Despina in Mozart‚s ŒCosi fan tutte‚ in Anghiari, Italy. Her website, www.joliesings2u.com , tells of her other achievements and recent work. We recently spoke with her about them and about her dreams for the future.

Soprano Jolie Rocke Brown is a singer who loves to teach and an educator who loves to perform. These days she is an artist in transition - looking for ways to build a singing career while maintaining links with the next generation of musicians through education. It is evident from the projects that she is currently working on, that both careers suit her well. She is proud of her achievements in teaching, both on-going and in the past, and is excited about the singing opportunities that are lately coming her way.

Last month Ms. Rocke Brown returned from Europe after an eleven week run in Gershwin's 'Porgy and Bess' with the famous New York Harlem Production Tours. The NYHP Tours have been sending all African-American casts to Europe and the Orient since 1993 and this tour represents, for her, a career milestone. The show was presented as many as eight times week and, although all the roles were double-cast, she was able to perform the role of Clara three times during the run.

Jolie has sung in other productions of 'Porgy and Bess' before, notably with the Connecticut Opera. But "this was my first tour. I wanted to see what it was like, could I handle it? I was on-stage every night. There were awesome audiences, packed houses every night". Of special benefit to Jolie, even as a member of the chorus, was the opportunity to be on stage with such well-respected singers as soprano Marquita Lister (as Bess), baritone Alvy Powell (as Porgy), Met star Terry Cook (also as Porgy), and soprano Monique McDonald as Serena. "Cast and ensemble members from the New York Opera and Houston Grand Opera productions were also involved. It was great to see them on stage, to meet them and to get advice about the business."

This year's production, running from December 9 to February 21, sang to full houses and enthusiastic audiences. The itinerary included the Alte Oper in Frankfort and the StadtTheatre in Furth, Germany, the Bologne Teatro Communale, Italy, and numerous smaller houses in Italy and Denmark. According to Rocke Brown, "The cast is auditioned each year by (Artistic Director and Conductor) William Barkhymer. This is a very reputable production (of 'Porgy') to tour with. Nice hotels and all transportation are included. We only had to cover our own expenses while we were there." (According to the original copyright of 'Porgy and Bess', held by George and Ira Gershwin and renewed by the Gershwin Estate, the entire stage cast of any American production, other than the detective and the police officers, must be comprised of African-Americans. This copyright restriction doesn't extend to European productions or to concert versions in the US).

The first phase of Jolie Rocke Brown's career was devoted full time to education. Upon completing her undergraduate studies at the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, with a double degree in Voice and Music Education, she spent nine years in the Hartford school system. Her work teaching privately and at a Montessori pre-school, in addition to being married and raising a family, occupied her time completely. At the time, she says, she didn't want to focus on singing. "I might have been ready, vocally, to do this career back then but it wasn't what I wanted to do."

"But then," as she puts it, "the opera bug hit me, just as I neared the completion of my Master's work in Montessori Education." She began to feel the need to perform more and she wanted to be singing full time. With a husband and three young children this wish presented some unique challenges. "Along with voice lessons, coachings and learning roles, I juggled family, coursework and full time teaching (Montessori and Music). Eventually, I decided to resign from teaching to focus full time on my singing career." But, she says, "My family is committed to that goal with me. It's important for all of us to realize that you have to follow your dreams, especially if you know there's promise in them."

This dream really started at a young age. She has loved opera since she was a child growing up in Queens. "My grandfather was very eclectic. He would listen to all types of music. He called me over to listen or watch whatever was on the radio or the TV. I remember seeing stars like Bumbry, Norman and Battle. I saw Leontyne Price sing 'Aida' on a televised Metropolitan Opera broadcast." These experiences influenced her strongly. Early on she knew she wanted to be a singer. At the age of three, she recalls, her mother found her in her bedroom singing into the corner of the room, "a nursery rhyme or whatever. Mom realized I was singing into the corner because, acoustically, I could hear my voice coming back at me." She called a friend from across the street who sang in a band. "He taught me my first song: 'If I had a Hammer'. By the age of ten she was ready to begin studying what was to become her lifelong passion.

She has told this story more than a few times. She is frequently being asked how she came to choose a career in singing, and in opera in particular. This is because, while pursuing her goal of singing full time, she continues to wear her educator's hat. She is in demand by Hartford area schools for her Outreach programs. She explains: "I'm certified in music and pre-school and kindergarten. I know kids - how to handle that kind of audience, how to get them to ask questions, how to pique their interest. So I will design a program specific for a school, based on a theme or a country. I've also done Black history programs and programs about how the singing voice works. Schools tend to focus more on Music Theater so, in contrast, I'll sing opera arias and art songs or spirituals for them. They go nuts with the opera. They ask meaningful questions."

What keeps kids interested? "They're honest, brutally sometimes. So I tell them 'I'm not asking you to like this, I'm asking you to experience it. Don't make any decisions.' I always give a clear message as to what I'm singing. If it's in another language I'm going to tell the story about what I'm singing. Even if it's in English, I tell them what the song is about. I also stress the importance of feeling what the music and performer are trying to express."

"Last year, I did a program of art song settings of Langston Hughes poetry; written by various composers, some African-American, some not. I also got a copy of a recording from the University of Connecticut library (where she is in a Doctoral program) of Hughes actually speaking some of the poems that I was singing." In addition, she found a recording of Hughes telling, in his own voice, how he became a poet. "I sent the poetry to the teachers two months ahead of time and three of the students read some of the poems at the concert before I sang the cycle. All this is intriguing for the kids and is a big part of Outreach: Get the kids interested before you get there so they have a knowledge base however minimal."

Clearly she has a gift for teaching. But for the time being, this gift is only her secondary interest. In addition to the recent European tour she has been singing a lot. Last August she sang the role of Zerlina in Mozart's 'Don Gionvanni' with the Houston Ebony Opera. In November she was the Sandman and Dew Fairy in Humperdinck's 'Hansel and Gretel' with the Connecticut Opera. Earlier this month she sang the role of the Sorceress in the University of Connecticut's production of Purcell's 'Dido and Aeneas'. She also appeared twice this passed year as a featured soloist with the New Britain Symphony. In April she will appear in several UConn performances - Opera Theater Scenes, Solo Recital, and soloist with both the Wind Ensemble and Collegium Musicum - and will sing in the ensemble c ast of the Connecticut Opera's production of Donizetti's 'Elixir of Love'.

Asked how this transition to performing has come about, she replies that "it's all about proper mentoring. I was not really aware, fresh out of college, of the opportunities there were for graduate level work in singing. Because I was a double major in Voice and Music Education, the vocal department staff felt that I wasn't interested in singing. As an undergraduate I didn't know that I could audition for Master's level vocal programs and get scholarships and stipends and grad assistantships. But I've learned so much since I've started singing again, invaluable information, by taking vocal coaching from Willie Anthony Waters (General and Artistic Director of the Connecticut Opera) and from Constance Rock (UConn) and David Lee Brewer who are phenomenal voice teachers." She also gives credit to Eve Budnick, one of her vocal coaches at UConn. (Budnick is also a vocal coach at Boston University and teaches diction at the New England Conservatory).

Her perspective on being an African-American artist reveals both a practical and a generous soul. "As I go out for auditions, I just go to them and sing the best that I can for that moment. If I'm doing everything in preparation then I'll get the job if it's for me. I won't go back and say 'I didn't get it because I'm black' or I should have gotten it because I sang better than five other people who were there. I know that happens. However, I can't waste my time and energy on that. If God meant me to have the job then I'm walking out with the job. And that's it. It enables me to go on to the next audition with a clear head and to keep wanting to audition and to get work."

What are the goals for this singer-educator? "Right now my focal point is singing. But I love doing Outreach. I don't think that I will ever totally get away from education. Ultimately I would love to get into singing full time, guesting and touring. While I‚m away, I'd gladly perform schools and community outreach presentations during the day."

For Rocke Brown, singing is about reaching people, whether through teaching or performing. "I look at my voice as a vehicle for God to use me. Singing at churches (Faith Congregational Church and Asylum Hill Congregational Church) and throughout the Greater Hartford community, where I'm based, people frequently approach me and remark on how my singing has influenced them. I'm not the only singer that this happens to. It's not about me, it's about God‚ work and allowing Him to use me. I feel that my purpose right now and God's purpose in my life is to be out there, singing."

For additional information about Jolie Rocke Brown go to her website: http://www.joliesings2u.com

Jolie Rocke Brown will be appearing at the following events:

Sunday, April 3, 2005 - 3pm
Opera Scenes - UCONN Opera Theater
"Dunque io son" from the Barber of Seville by Rossini
von der Mehden Hall, University of Connecticut, Storrs

Thursday, April 21, 2005 - 8 pm
UCONN Wind Ensemble
performing excerpts from Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess"
Jolie Rocke Brown*, Soprano and Marques Ruff, Baritone
von der Mehden Hall, University of Connecticut, Storrs

Thursday, April 28, 2005 - 7:30 pm
Saturday, April 30, 2005 - 8:00pm
Donizetti's "Elisir d'amore"
Jolie will be performing in the ensemble
Connecticut Opera, Bushnell Theater for the Arts
for more info go to www.ctopera.org