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Washington National Opera
Porgy and Bess
Contralto Gwendolyn Brown as Maria sang
with one of the richest voices I have ever heard, in some
instances singing comfortably in what would be considered the
tenor range. She brought the forceful, maternal element to the
cast, keeping everyone in line and being the voice of reason.
The audience was brought to laughter several times by her
'frank' dialogue, as it related to her dislike for both
Sportin-Life and Bess.
Patrick McCoy,
Kennedy Center Examiner
The Chicago Sinfonietta
A Dream Unfolds - Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King
[The] Four Negro Spirituals by
African-American composer and arranger Hale Smith which was sung
alternately by soprano Jonita Lattimore and contralto Gwendolyn
Brown, each milking gorgeous sound.
Dennis Polkow, Chicago Classical Review
Such incredible talent performing such earthy, simple-folk tunes
. . . Brown's soulful and sassy rendition of "Witness" was a
highlight of the performance.
Jonathan Rayfield, Chicago Splash Magazine, Spash Magazines
Worldwide
It was Brown that blew me away during her solos in Jesus Lay
Your Head in the Window and Witness. Brown has a voice that
makes you get goose bumps. It is buttery, smooth and strong, and
she might be the best singer/storyteller I have ever heard. In
Witness she had the crowd laughing as she changed her voice to
imitate characters in the song and had a few people muttering
“Amen!” under their breath as she infused some spunky attitude
into soulful verses. I was smitten!
Devin Kidner, Making Chicago Home
Gwendolyn Brown brought a spiritual
depth to “Jesus Lay Your Head in the Window” and a bit of sassy
humor to “Witness.” She added some needed levity that drew the
audience closer to her.
Dwight Casimere,
National Food and Entertainment Writer and Reviewer
Hollywood Bowl
“Porgy and Bess”
Gwendolyn Brown was a
fabulously vivacious Maria.
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
“Beyond The Score” - Dvorak New World Symphony
Sunday also marked a
wonderful breakthrough for Chicago contralto Gwendolyn Brown, an
alumna of Lyric Opera of Chicago's training program and a
regular at Lyric as a cover and in small roles. Her
interpretations of Negro spirituals, with ever-dependable
pianist Elizabeth Buccheri, were deeply moving, even stirring.
She also absolutely captured the harmonic, narrative and
dramatic qualities of this music that spoke so directly to
Dvorak. Stunning.
Andrew Patner, Chicago Sun Times
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Holy and Ivy Holiday Concert
Soloists were fine, with the
standout being mezzo Gwendolyn Brown, haunting in Leo Nestor's
1998 arrangement of the 1933 John Jacob Niles
Appalachian-inspired standard "I Wonder as I Wander."
Andrew Patner, Chicago Sun Times
Altamura-Caruso International
Vocal Competition
Encounter with the Masters
Speaking of voices that will haunt you through
Metropolitan Opera performances anywhere featuring a
mezzo-contralto for years to come, to hear Gwendolyn Brown is to
experience that primal thrill which comes in the presence of a
singer whose fusion of soul with a vast, resonant instrument is
total.
Kitty Montgomery, Saugerties Post Star
Tulsa Opera, Tulsa, Oklahoma,
Carol Crawford, General Director
Porgy and Bess, Gershwin
“Gwendolyn Brown brings a large helping of sass to the
role of Maria; her face-off with Sportin’ Life is one of the
comic highlights of the opera.”
James D. Watts, Jr., Tulsa World
Chicago Sinfonietta, Chicago,
Illinois
Alexander Nevsky, Tchaikovsky
Gwendolyn Brown brought a rich contralto voice to the
lament of the Russian girl as she searched for her lover's body
among the battlefield dead.
John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune
Yachats Music Festival, Yachats
Once again Saturday night there were astonishments,
particularly Gwendolyn Brown, a contralto who silenced our
breathing with the celebrated "Samson et Dalila" aria "Mon coeur
s'ouvre a ta voix" ("My heart opens at your voice"). Brown
slowed the phrases down and took breaths in unconventional
places, but her dusky voice inhabited the music so completely,
we were spellbound.
David Stabler, The Oregonian
Yachats Music
Festival, Yachats
"Gwendolyn Brown's turn. This is her second year at the festival, and she's making an impression with her poise and deep contralto voice. She's young, but something about her tone and phrasing makes her voice sound older. She sings Ulrica's great anger aria from Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" ("A Masked Ball"), the aria that Marian Anderson sang in her debut as the first African American in a leading role at the Metropolitan Opera in 1955. Brown recalls Anderson's muscular sound: low notes that are dark, almost earthen."
The Oregonian
Yachats Music
Festival, Yachats
". . . positively chilled the warm night air
with the gypsy's fortune teller's aria from Verdi's Un ballo
in Maschera."
South Lincoln County News
(Oregon)
Yachats Music
Festival, Yachats
Verdi never saw the
Pacific Ocean.
But, hearing a young singer
before the rest of the world
discovers her
during a Yachats sunset
matches one of life's
greatest moments."
The Oregonian.
Memphis Vocal Arts Ensemble
Rossini - Messe Solennelle
There were many powerful moments for soloists - mezzo soprano Gwendolyn Brown's expressiveness and middle-register authority in the powerfully affecting Agnus Dei.
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Opera Memphis
Menotti - Amahl and the Night Visitors
The mezzo soprano Gwendolyn Brown . . . sang a lyrical rendition of a song questioning whether the three kings knew the simple good life of poor shepherds.
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Menotti -
The Medium
In The Medium, mezzo-soprano Gwendolyn Brown, as a woman who ends haunted by her own tricks, had an arrestingly powerful stage presence and strong, lyrical singing . . . she was at her vocal best in the Black Swan aria. Her dramatic range is wide, from arrogance and rage to self-doubt and remorse.
Memphis Commercial Appeal
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