Vocalist, violinist, entrepreneur, and teacher Tona Brown has an international performance career throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe as a violinist and mezzo-soprano. Ms. Brown is also an advocate for transgender issues in the arts, often speaking and performing at colleges and universities. She 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. She is also the first transgender woman to headline at Carnegie Hall in a program of African-American composers with an all-inclusive LGBT cast of performers. Ms. Brown graduated from the Governor’s School for the Arts, a prestigious high school for gifted and talented students. She was formally educated at the Shenandoah University and Conservatory of Music, studying violin performance with minors in viola, piano, and voice. For Shenandoah University's 2021 production of "Suor Angelica”, she recorded an opera movie, playing the role of La Zia Principessa. Ms. Brown performed in a lead transgender role as Hannah After in the opera "As One" by Laura Kaminsky with the Lowell Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Orlando Cela in the fall of 2021. Ms. Brown was also asked to do a masterclass on Transgender Voices by the Virginia National Association of Teachers. Tona Brown is a judge for the 2023 Ben Holt Memorial Strings Competition for the National Association of Negro Musicians. Ms. Brown teaches private lessons to students around the world with her company Aida Studios.

The mission of Motus Theater is to create original theater to facilitate dialogue on critical issues of our time. We aim to use the power of art to build alliances across diverse segments of our community and country. Motus specializes in developing artfully crafted autobiographical monologues with leaders on the frontlines of violence in the U.S., putting them center stage as the protagonists in the American drama. Motus is currently touring two projects: 1. UndocuAmerica (2012) aims to interrupt the dehumanizing portrayals of immigrants by elevating the stories of people who are undocumented, and encouraging thoughtful engagement on the challenges facing the undocumented community and the assets immigrants bring to our country. 2. JustUs (2019) supports community leaders who are impacted by carceral systems to share artfully crafted autobiographical monologues that expose the devastating impact of the criminal legal system and inspire action towards a vision of true justice. The project is currently touring with district attorneys and attorney generals’ offices across the country to support conversations about true justice and community safety. In the summer of 2023, Motus Theater began developing its TRANSformative Stories Project which supports transgender and non-binary community leaders who are on the frontlines of dehumanizing, anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric and policies to tell artfully crafted autobiographical monologues about negotiating oppression and liberation. Bills aggressively targeting the transgender and LGBTQIA+ community went up nationwide from 25 bills in 2019 to 155 bills in 2022. Since Jan. 2023, more than 567 anti-transgender bills have been introduced.