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Opera Brings Arts Back To DPS Students

DENVER (CBS4) - Hundreds of elementary school students from Denver public schools recently heard one form of music for the first time. Dramatic soprano Angela Brown introduced students to the beauty and imagination of opera.

Denver's first lady Mary Louise Lee introduced Angela Brown to hundreds of enthusiastic DPS students about to hear opera for the first time.

This operatic performance complemented the Bringing Back the Arts program, an initiative led by Denver's first lady.

"I was very happy to have her in the audience and she stayed and she got a chance to experience what I could bring to the table," said Angela Brown.

This dramatic soprano understands how important a program like bringing back the arts can be, and said, "I didn't know that I had a classical voice within me."

Education is what brought it out. Even before formal musical education, Brown was exposed to a variety of music.

"My mother would be playing barefooting on Saturday mornings, we would be cleaning up the house singing barefooting da da duh duh that's how we got our dusting done," Brown described.

And she wants to pass on that love. Brown believes classical music should be a part of every student's cultural diet, "I just want to let them know that there are other options out there."

angela brown opera
(credit: CBS)

A lot of arts have been taken from the schools and Brown said kids need to be exposed to all forms of music. "When I do opera from a sister's point of view for children, that's what I want to do is expose them."

Angela's performance took place at Shorter A.M.E. church courtesy of the Bill Pickett Memorial Scholarship Fund (BPMSF) at no cost to the students or to Denver public schools.

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