Katharine Lawton Brown

Gateway Brass Quintet

Katharine Lawton Brown

Narrator

Katharine Lawton Brown – the voice of the Gateway Brass Quintet – is a member of the music faculty of Greenville College. Diversity has been the hallmark of her extensive career which encompasses opera, oratorio and musical theatre. Immediately out of high school, she was as a singer/dancer with St. Louis Muny Opera, working two seasons with some of musical theatre's brightest stars. Earning a BA (Music Performance) from Rollins College (FL), she appeared as soloist in many professional oratorio and chamber works throughout her college years, and in roles in the Florida Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Opera Gala’ series and Children’s Operas.

Ms. Lawton Brown enjoys the distinction of being on of the first female members of the United States Air Force Band’s elite “Singing Sergeants,” where she served as principal contralto and featured soloist with the Concert Band under the legendary conductor, Col. Arnald D. Gabriel. The eminence and renown of this particular unit afforded her the opportunity to work with some of the nation’s most distinguished celebrities, and to perform across the nation for audiences of thousands, for dignitaries, heads of state, and on national and international radio and television.

Upon completing military service, she continued to perform while earning her MM (Vocal Performance) at James Madison University (VA). She then joined the faculty of Shenandoah College and Conservatory of Music, where her career continued to flourish. A soloist in chamber works, oratorios, operas, musicals and festivals, she also performed at the Kennedy Center with the 20th Century and Folger Consorts. When she and her husband moved to Georgia, she taught at Mercer University and Macon College, and performed with the Macon Symphony Orchestra and related ensembles.

Since her return to St. Louis, Kathy has been featured with numerous vocal and instrumental groups, including the American Chamber Chorus, The Masterworks Chorale, the Tulsa Philharmonic and Oratorio Chorus, the Bach Chamber Chorus of Rockford and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Prior to joining the faculty of UMSL, she taught at Belleville Area, Fontbonne and Blackburn Colleges, and has also performed for major musical events at Webster University, SIUE, Washington University, SMS and Greenville College. Other significant appearances include the regional premiere of Samuel Adler’s “Ever Since Babylon” and the premiere of Claude Baker’s “Sleepers Awake” with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra on their Discovery series. She has been privileged to study with vocal coaches Ross Rosazza, In Dal Choi and W. Stephen Smith.

As principal contralto and soloist of the American Kantorei under the direction of Dr. Robert Bergt, she collaborates with many of the area’s most respected musicians in the ‘Bach at the Sem’ series. A member of the vocal faculty of UM – St. Louis for 11 years, she was a key performer in Dr. Barbara Harbach’s ‘Women in the Arts’ series in 2005, and still performs with her former UMSL colleagues, the Arianna String Quartet. From Fall of 2000 through the Spring of 2006, in addition to her performing and teaching duties, Ms. Lawton Brown also served as Director of UMSL's classical chamber music series, Premiere Performances.

Since her undergraduate years, she has also enjoyed a lively announcing career, and has become known throughout the region as a vocal clinician and adjudicator. She is also associate conductor of the Variety Children’s Chorus in St. Louis.