Sandra Browne (born July 27, 1947) is a
Trinidadian
Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a ...
operatic
mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
.
Born in
Point Fortin
Point Fortin, officially the Republic Borough of Point Fortin, the smallest Borough in Trinidad and Tobago is located in southwestern Trinidad, about southwest of San Fernando, in the historic county of Saint Patrick. After the discovery of pe ...
,
Browne was the only survivor of six children. A scholarship student at
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...
, upon her 1968 graduation she initially intended on a career in the diplomatic corps before being persuaded to develop her musical abilities. In 1971 she won the
Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Competition, and the following year made her British operatic debut singing Ismene in ''
Nabucco
''Nabucco'' (, short for Nabucodonosor ; en, " Nebuchadnezzar") is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The libretto is based on the biblical books of 2 Kings, ...
'' at
Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...
. In 1973 she appeared at the
Camden Festival Camden Festival was an annual spring festival founded in 1954 and held in London, England. Originally, it was named the St Pancras Festival until 1965. It continued until 1987.
The festival specialised in the revival of long-forgotten operas, some ...
as Man Friday in ''
Robinson Crusoé
''Robinson Crusoé '' is an opéra comique with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Eugène Cormon and Hector-Jonathan Crémieux. It premiered in Paris on 23 November 1867.
The writers took the theme from the 1719 novel ''Robinson Crusoe'' b ...
'' of
Jacques Offenbach, and in 1974 she sang Poppea in ''
L'incoronazione di Poppea'' with
Kent Opera. She sang at the
English National Opera in such roles as
Rosina,
Octavian, and
Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...
, and in 1975 she sang
Dorabella for the Welsh National Opera.
she received a nomination for the
for her performances as Lady Thiang in ''
The King and I
''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childre ...
''.
References
1947 births
Living people
Trinidad and Tobago opera singers
20th-century Trinidad and Tobago women singers
Operatic mezzo-sopranos
20th-century women opera singers
Vassar College alumni
People from Point Fortin
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