One of the most celebrated singers of our time, 2023 Kennedy Center Honoree Renée Fleming captivates audiences with her sumptuous voice, consummate artistry, and compelling stage presence. Renée will be performing in recital with pianist Hartmut Höll, and the second half of this program is set to a film that was created in collaboration with National Geographic Society.
Honored with five Grammy® awards and the US National Medal of Arts, she has sung for momentous occasions from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, to the Diamond Jubilee Concert for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, to the Super Bowl. In May, Renée was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Health by the World Health Organization.
In 2008, Renée became the first woman in the 125-year history of the Metropolitan Opera to solo headline an opening night gala. In 2009, Renée was featured in the televised We Are One: The Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial for President Obama. She has also performed for the United States Supreme Court and, in 2009, celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Czech Republic’s “Velvet Revolution” at the invitation of Václav Havel. In 2014, she brought her voice to a vast new audience when she became the first classical artist ever to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl.
Renée has recorded everything from complete operas and song recitals to indie rock and jazz. Her albums Renée Fleming: Greatest Moments at the Met and Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene capture Renée’s classical music and opera. She has sung not only with Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli, but also with Elton John, Paul Simon, Sting, Josh Groban, and Joan Baez. Her voice is featured on the soundtracks of Best Picture Oscar winners The Shape of Water and The Lord of the Rings.
In recent years, Renée has become a leading advocate for research at the intersection of arts, health, and neuroscience. As Artistic Advisor to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, she launched the first ongoing collaboration between America’s national cultural center and the National Institutes of Health. She has presented her program Music and the Mind in more than 50 cities around the world, and launched Music and Mind LIVE, a weekly web show that amassed nearly 700,000 views, from 70 countries. She is a founding advisor for major initiatives in this field, including the Sound Health Network at the University of California San Francisco and the NeuroArts Blueprint at Johns Hopkins University.
In addition to leading SongStudio at Carnegie Hall, Renée is Co-Director of the Aspen Opera Center and VocalARTS at the Aspen Music Festival, and Advisor for Special Projects at LA Opera. Renée’s other awards include the 2023 Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum, the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, Germany’s Cross of the Order of Merit, and France’s Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur.
