Tona Brown
Violinist - Mezzo-Soprano - Transgender Advocate
About
Vocalist, Violinist, entrepreneur, and teacher Tona Brown has an international performance career as a violinist, Mezzo-Soprano, and has performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Ms. Brown is also an advocate for transgender issues and the arts often speaking and performing at colleges and universities. TonaBrown is the first transgender woman of color to perform the National Anthem for a sitting President at the LGBT Leadership Gala Dinner for former President Barack Obama at the Sheraton in NYC. Tona Brown was the first transgender woman to headline at Carnegie Hall performing a program of African American composers with an all-inclusive LGBT cast of performers
“Equality Virginia was honored to welcome Tona Brown as a keynote speaker for the 8th Annual Virginia Transgender Information & Empowerment Summit (TIES). Her presence was energetic, welcoming, and just a joy to be around. She developed immediate on-screen chemistry with the moderator and thoroughly engaged audience members, ensuring every voice in the room was important to the discussion. Ahead of time, she was extremely responsive and very happy to get involved in shaping what the event looked like. We would highly recommend that any organization looking for a keynote speaker welcome Tona Brown. She has every quality of a keynote speaker, including a dynamic presence and a ground-breaking story! We definitely look forward to working with her again for other programming.”