One of the most beloved and celebrated musical ambassadors of our time, soprano Renée Fleming captivates audiences with her sumptuous voice, consummate artistry, and compelling stage presence. Known as “the people’s diva” and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo, she continues to grace the world’s greatest opera stages and concert halls. Over the past few seasons, Fleming has hosted a wide variety of television and radio broadcasts, including the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series and Live From Lincoln Center on PBS. Most recently, Fleming was awarded the National Medal of Arts at the White House by President Obama for her artistic excellence, creativity and innovation.
As a musical statesman, Fleming has been sought after on numerous distinguished occasions, from the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to performances in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games and the 2014 Super Bowl. In January 2009, Fleming was featured in the televised « We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration » at the Lincoln Memorial concert for President Obama. In 2012, in an historic first, Fleming sang on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in the Diamond Jubilee Concert for HM Queen Elizabeth II. Fleming also performed for the United States Supreme Court and, in November 2009, celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Czech Republic’s “Velvet Revolution” at the invitation of Václav Havel. An additional distinction was bestowed in 2008 when, breaking a precedent, Fleming became the first woman in the 125-year history of the Metropolitan Opera to solo headline an opening night gala.
A four-time Grammy winner, Fleming won the 2013 Best Classical Vocal Solo Grammy Award for Poèmes, a collection of 20th-Century French music. In recent years, this fourteen-time Grammy-nominated artist has recorded everything from Strauss’s complete Daphne to the jazz album Haunted Heart to the movie soundtrack of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Her recording honors range from the 2009 Echo Award for Strauss’s Four Last Songs to the Prix Maria Callas Orphée d’Or by the Académie du Disque Lyric for TDK’s DVD production of Capriccio. In February, 2012, Fleming received the Victoire d’Honneur, the highest award conveyed by the French Victoires de la Musique.
An advocate for literacy, Renée Fleming has been featured in promotional campaigns for the Association of American Publishers (Get Caught Reading), and the Magazine Publishers of America’s READ poster campaign for the American Library Association. Her book, The Inner Voice, was published in 2004. An intimate account of her career and creative process, the book was also published in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and Russia.
Fleming is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Hall Corporation, the Board of Sing for Hope, and the Advisory Board of the White Nights Foundation of America. In 2010, she was named the first ever Creative Consultant at Lyric Opera of Chicago.