Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 10A Renee Fleming Gala

P R O F I L E S | L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O March 23, 2019 | 15 Previously at Lyric: Ten roles since 1993/94, most recently Hanna Glawari/ e Merry Widow (2015/16); Countess Madeleine/ Capriccio (2014/15); Blanche DuBois/ A Streetcar Named Desire (2012/13). Renée Fleming enjoys an extraordinary association with Lyric Opera of Chicago. In addition to earning enormous acclaim in a remarkably diverse repertoire onstage at Lyric over the past 25 years, she has also sung three special concerts (collaborating with tenor Jonas Kaufmann, the late baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and music director and principal conductor Sir Andrew Davis) and a duo recital (with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham). She has been a featured artist in four galas, including Lyric Unlimited’s Chicago Voices Concert and Gala, for which she was host and artistic director. Since 2010 Fleming has had an exceptional impact on both the company and arts education in Chicago in her role as Lyric’s first creative consultant. Among her many projects have been the world premiere of Bel Canto, the Chicago Voices Gala, e Second City Guide to the Opera, and serving as advisor for the Ryan Opera Center. One of the most beloved and celebrated singers of our time, Fleming captivates audiences with her sumptuous voice, consummate artistry, and compelling stage presence. Her stature in American culture was fittingly recognized in 2013 when, in a ceremony at the White House, President Obama awarded her the National Medal of Arts, our nation’s highest honor for an individual artist. A favorite at the world’s most prestigious opera, concert, and recital venues, Fleming brought her voice to a vast new audience in 2014, as the first classical artist to sing “ e Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl. As a musical ambassador, Fleming has performed at distinguished occasions around the world, from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo to the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the Diamond Jubilee Concert for HM Queen Elizabeth II. In January 2009, she was featured in the televised We Are One: e Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial concert for President Obama. A groundbreaking distinction came in 2008 when Fleming became the first woman in the 125-year history of the Metropolitan Opera to solo headline an opening-night gala. Last season Fleming made her Broadway musical debut in Carousel, earning a Tony Award nomination . Also during 2016/17 she brought her acclaimed portrayal of the Marschallin/ Der Rosenkavalier to London’s Royal Opera and New York’s Metropolitan Opera in Robert Carsen’s new production (a portrayal subsequently released on DVD). Fleming’s recital and concert schedule this season includes Spain, France, the Netherlands, Britain, and venues across North America. Earlier this month she appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra both in Boston and at Carnegie Hall. Next month, she will appear in the opening performances of e Shed, New York City’s newest arts space, in Norma Jeane Baker of Troy , opposite award-winning actor Ben Whishaw. In June she will return to musical theater, starring in the London premiere of e Light in the Piazza. She concludes the season with a gala concert in August at e Santa Fe Opera. In a rare doubleheader for a classical singer, Fleming was featured on the soundtrack of two Best Picture and Best Soundtrack nominees at the 2018 Academy Awards, ree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and e Shape of Water (the latter won both prizes). She was also recently heard as the singing voice of Roxane Coss (Julianne Moore) in the film of Ann Patchett’s bestselling novel Bel Canto , which was also the inspiration for the opera of the same name, the creation of which Fleming curated for its world premiere here at Lyric during the 2014/15 season. A 16-time Grammy nominee and four-time winner, Fleming has recorded everything from complete operas and song recitals to jazz, indie rock, and the movie soundtrack of e Lord of the Rings: e Return of the King . Her 2009 album Signatures was selected by the U.S. Library of Congress for the National Recording Registry as an “aural treasure worthy of preservation as part of America’s patrimony.” A new album, Renée Fleming: Broadway, features great musical-theater songs from the 1920s to the present day. In 2015, Fleming was featured with Yo-Yo Ma on the Billy Childs album, Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro (their track, “New York Tendaberry,” won the Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals). Her first-ever holiday album, Christmas in New York , released in 2014, inspired a special on PBS. Fleming won the 2013 Best Classical Vocal Solo Grammy for Poèmes , a collection of 20th-century French music. In January, Fleming launched SongStudio at Carnegie Hall, a new program for young vocalists, dedicated to the art of the vocal recital. Since 2015, the soprano has served as a distinguished visiting artist at her alma mater, the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester (New York). She is currently artistic advisor for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She is also an artistic advisor to the Polyphony Foundation, which brings together Arab and Jewish children in Israel for the study and performance of classical music. Fleming is a board member of Sing for Hope, a New York City-based nonprofit dedicated to creating regular and affordable access to high-quality arts programming. Inspired by the Sound Health initiative she spearheads at the Kennedy Center, Fleming has created a presentation exploring the power of music as it relates to health and the brain, “Music and the Mind,” which she has presented across North America. ( See “America’s Voice: A Tribute to Renée Fleming,” pp. 18 -20. ) RENÉE FLEMING