Performance Year: 2018, 2026
Hailed by The New York Times for her “plush, full sound, yet also youthful brightness,” American mezzo-soprano Angela Brower is one of the most sought-after lyric mezzo-sopranos of her generation. A former member of the Bayerische Staatsoper ensemble and alumna of their studio, she continues to bring her compelling artistry and musicianship to the world’s leading opera houses and concert venues.
Engagements last season included Sesto in La clemenza di Tito and Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffman, both at the Staatsoper Hamburg, and another double appearance at the Bayerische Staatsoper as Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel and as the Fox in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen. She also sang Dorabella in Così fan tutte at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées with Mark Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre and made her Wigmore Hall debut together with pianist James Baillieu in a programme titled “A Little Night Music.”
In the 2023-24 season, Brower made a double appearance at the Opéra national de Paris as Nicklausse/The Muse in Les Contes d’Hoffman and Dorabella in Così fan tutte and a highly acclaimed role debut as Sara in a new production of Roberto Devereux by Jetske Mijnssen at the Dutch National Opera. She also sang Annio in a new production of La clemenza di Tito at the Royal Danish Theatre and returned to Staatsoper Hamburg as Adalgisa in Norma and Wiener Staatsoper as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier.
Particularly associated with the works of Mozart and Strauss, her signature roles include Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier (Metropolitan Opera, Dutch National Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, and Wiener Staatsoper); Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos (Glyndebourne and Aix-en-Provence Festivals, Bayerische Staatsoper and Semperoper Dresden); Dorabella in Così fan tutte (Royal Ballet & Opera, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Salzburg Festival, Dutch National Opera, and Bayerische Staasoper); Annio in La clemenza di Tito (Opéra de Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper and Royal Ballet & Opera); Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Bayerische Staatsoper, Staatsoper Hamburg and San Francisco Opera); and Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozartwoche Salzburg, Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival, and Bayerische Staatsoper). Brower has made acclaimed debuts in roles such as Sifare in Mitridate; Re di Ponto at Staatsoper Berlin; Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at Gran Teatre del Liceu, Bordeaux, and Versailles; Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus at Deutsche Oper Berlin; Idamante in Idomeneo at Lyric Opera of Chicago; Charlotte in Werther and Adalgisa in Norma, both at Bayerische Staatsoper; and Tamiri in Il re pastore at Lucerne Festival.
On the concert platform, she has performed works such as Mozart’s Davide Penitente with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester; Mozart Requiem with the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Andrés Orozco-Estrada; a concert with the Aachen Symphony Orchestra which featured works by Debussy, Chausson, Ravel, and Duruflé; Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at the Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; Fox in The Cunning Little Vixen with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Alban Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder with the Tiroler Symphonie Orchester in Innsbruck; and Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer Op. 19 and Ravel’s Shéhérazade with the NDR Sinfonieorchester under the musical direction of Yal Pascal Tortilier.
Her discography includes the hugely acclaimed Deutsche Grammophon recordings of Mozart’s Così fan tutte and Le nozze di Figaro, both conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Angela Brower was raised in Arizona and studied at Arizona State University and Indiana University. Her career started as a young artist in the Glimmerglass Opera Young American Artists Program in 2008. She was then invited to join the Opera Studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, where she later became a member of the Ensemble from 2010-2016. Her portrayal of Dorabella in Così fan tutte earned her particular attention on the main stage of the National Theater, which led to her receiving the prestigious Munich Festival Prize in 2009.
