Earlier this month our son — the tenor Andrew Bearden Brown — was a finalist in the 10th annual Handel Aria Competition held at historic Grace Episcopal Church on the capitol square in Madison, Wisconsin. The Handel Aria Competition is dedicated to promoting the performance of Handel’s extensive vocal repertoire. Established in 2013 by Dean and Carol “Orange” Schroeder, enthusiasts of the vocal repertoire of George Frideric Handel, the competition is to encourage emerging singers of all voice types to explore the repertoire of Handel. The finalists were selected out of 125 auditions from around the world.
This year’s prize winners were: Emily Donato, soprano, first prize; Andrew Bearden Brown (right) tenor, second prize; and Fran Daniel Laucerica, tenor, third prize.
For his two pieces, Andrew began with “Alla offesa…È un folle” from the opera Alcina.*
That was followed by “Comfort Ye…Ev’ry Valley” from Messiah.
All of the finalists sang beautifully in this wonderful historic setting. Needless to say, we are so proud of Andrew’s performance, and I just wanted to share it with the readers of More to Come.
Enjoy!
More to come …
DJB
*UPDATE: I thought it might be helpful to have a synopsis of the two pieces he’s singing.
- Alcina Synopsis: Oronte struggles with his conflicting feelings around his lover, Morgana, who has rejected him for the dashing new arrival on their island. He concludes that it’s not her beauty, but rather his own madness that is to blame for his inner turmoil.
- Messiah Synopsis: In this aria, the tenor soloist calls out to the listener and invites them to prepare for the coming of God, joyfully celebrating the peace and justice to come.
Photos of Andrew Bearden Brown by Kristina Sherk (https://www.kristinasherk.com).
MORE TO COME... 
Simply spectacular! I’m so glad you devoted a More to Come to this wonderful news.
Congrats all around!!
Tracy
Oh, thank you Tracy. You are so very kind. Yes, I’m certainly the proud parent! Hope you are well. DJB
Congratulations to your son!
When I was a child growing up in NYC, we rarely went to Broadway shows, but we had subscription tickets to the NYC Opera (at the time under Beverly Sills) – we couldn’t afford the Met next door 🙂
In any event, among my most favorite operas is Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Boito’s Mephistofele.
See you Thursday!
Margit
Margit Bessenyey Williams, PhD
Many thanks, Margit. Sounds like great memories.
DJB
David,
Thank you so much for sending this post with links to Andrew’s performance
George,
So glad that you enjoyed it. Take care. DJB
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