Anne Wiggins Brown — whom we hear at the opening of this segment singing "Summertime" from the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess — is one of the many great artists to come out of Baltimore’s rich musical community.
Porgy and Bess composer George Gershwin chose the then-23 year-old Brown to sing the title role of "Bess" in his opera, a role that helped launch her storied career. This weekend,Opera Baltimorewill celebrate the great soprano with a festival and concert. Among the featured performers will be the great soprano, composer and educator, Adrienne Danrich.
![Julia Cooke is the Artistic and general Director of Opera Baltimore (photo credit Britt Olsen-Ecker)](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3e9f097/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3212x4016+0+0/resize/880x1100!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5c%2F5a%2F2bb8393d49228c7d8d54bd59737a%2Fjulia-cooke-crop-credit-britt-olsen-ecker.jpg)
Joining Tom now in Studio A with a preview is the Artistic and General Director of Opera Baltimore, Julia Cooke…
The Opera on the Avenue festival begins at 10:30 Saturday morning just off Pennsylvania Ave on Cumberland Street. The performance by Adrienne Danrich is Saturday night at 7:30 at University Baptist Church in Charles Village here in Baltimore. Click the link for more info.
Audio will be posted here later this afternoon.