of New York's Metropolitan Opera. She made it as far as the regional finals but proceeded no further. She tried out two more years in a row, only to be stopped twice more at the regional level. She tried one last time in 1997. "I had nothing to lose," she told The New York Times. Instead, she won everything - not only the regionals, but the semi-finals and then the finals. The win bought her entry into the world of professional opera. Brown has since gone on to win the 2000 Richard Tucker Career Grant, a 1998 Sullivan Foundation Grant, the 1998 G.B. Viotti Verdi Vocal Competition, and the 1998 Opera Carolina Competition. Career In 1997, Brown moved to New York City and began performing in a steady stream of small roles with larger opera companies and larger roles with smaller opera companies over the next several years. She also appeared in concerts with good regional orchestras and gave many recitals. In the 2000–2001 season, Brown performed with the San Antonio Symphony, Teatro La Fenice, as Serena in Porgy and Bess with Opera Company of Philadelphia, and gave several recitals. She also began working for the Metropolitan Opera as a cover artist for the title roles of Verdi's Aida and Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos. This was followed by cover work for the company for the next three seasons. In the 2001–2002 season, Brown appeared as the Fourth Maid in Cincinnati Opera's production of Strauss' Elektra. In the 2002–2003 season, Brown performed at the Kimmel Center with the Philadelphia Orchestra for the September 11 Memorial Concert, return trips to the Metropolitan Opera to cover the roles of Aida and Ariadne, covering Leonora in Il Trovatore for San Francisco Opera, performances of Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs with the El Paso Symphony and Muncie Symphony Orchestras, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. In the 2003-2004 season, Brown performed the roles of Elisabetta in Verdi's Don Carlo and Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore for the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the title role in Verdi's Aida for Shaker Mountain Opera, and the role of Cassandra in Taneyev's Agamemnon with the Manhattan Philharmonic and the Aquila Theater Company which toured Poland and was performed at her Carnegie Hall debut . She also performed a concert of Strauss and Wagner arias with the Auckland Philharmonia, was a soloist in Verdi's Requiem with the Louisville