Brooks, Patricia

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Brooks, Patricia

Brooks, Patricia, American soprano; b. N.Y., Nov. 7, 1937; d. Mount Kisco, N.Y., Jan. 22, 1992. She studied at the Manhattan School of Music in N.Y.; also took dance lessons with Martha Graham. She made her operatic debut as Marianne in Der Rosenkavalier at the N.Y. City Opera on Oct. 12, 1960; also sang with opera companies in San Francisco, Chicago, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Houston, and Santa Fe. She made her Covent Garden debut in London in 1969 as Shemakha in The Golden Cockerel. In 1978 she retired from the operatic stage and taught at the State Univ. of N.Y. in Purchase until 1981. Among her best roles were Gilda, Lucia, Violetta, Massenet’s Manon, Sophie, and Mélisande.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire