Growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta close to family and friends, Keith Browning’s decision to attend Stetson University, eight hours from home, proved to be a tough one. Instead of seeing family every day, he was only able to visit during holidays or summer. But, ultimately, it helped him grow.

“Now looking back on it, the choice to move so far away from home helped build my character and made me more independent,” Browning said as he prepares to graduate this week with a Bachelor of Music in voice performance. He and fellow graduate Kate Nadolny will lead the Alma Mater at both Commencement ceremonies on May 12.

This new-found independence has given Browning the courage to follow his dreams to perform opera onstage, no matter how far away it takes him.

A baritone who has been featured in many choral and opera performances at Stetson, Browning will now attend graduate school at the University of Maryland, where he will be a member of the prestigious Maryland Opera Studio in pursuit of a Master’s in Opera Performance. He has been awarded a Graduate Assistantship, with full tuition paid.

Stetson has been a rewarding experience for him, including making great friendships that he expects will last a lifetime. “I am so fortunate and blessed to have had such an amazing undergraduate experience,” Browning said.

All of the performances he has been a part of, whether performing or just listening to his peers, were the most important part of his academic experience, he said. His most recent opera performance was in this spring’s two French operas, Angélique and Les Mamelles de Tirésias. In spring 2011, Browning performed the part of Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro. He also performed at the fall 2010 Opera Gala, featuring operatic scenes from three centuries – from Mozart to Verdi to Bernstein.

“Our School of Music is comprised of some very rich and dynamic young performers,” Browning said. “It’s satisfying to know that I am a part of this talented community of students.”

His own talent has been recognized throughout his time at Stetson. He received the William E. Duckwitz Talent Scholarship beginning in his freshman year. In 2010, he was runner-up in the Southeastern Regional National Association of Teachers Singing Competition, and he won first prize in the Daytona Choral Society’s Vocal Competition. He placed third in Stetson’s annual Harold Giffin Vocal Competition in 2011. Last summer, he was invited to be a Young Artist with the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, N.C., and he will return again this summer. Among his assignments this summer is that he will be singing the principal role in Rossini’s Barber of Seville.

“Although I am sad to be departing from this chapter in my life,” Browning said, “I think of a saying I heard when I was preparing to graduate from high school: ‘Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened.’”

By Nina Laureano ’12, Stetson University Marketing student employee