Last month, premier soprano Renée Fleming found herself on familiar ground, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Fleming, 64, who boasts the sobriquet “America’s Diva,” has long had close ties with the Kennedy Center. On this celebrated night, however, the spotlight was especially august, as she accepted the official and coveted medal as a Kennedy Center honoree, in a group of honorees including pop cultural side of the fence — Queen Latifah, Dionne Warwick, Billy Crystal and Sir Barry Gibb.
Fleming, whose career entailed decades in a prime position at the Metropolitan Opera, starting in 1991, is one of the reigning opera artists in America and beyond. Her musical world should also be defined as “opera and beyond,” given her résumé, which has stretched into collaborations with jazz and pop musicians from Brad Mehldau and Bill Frisell to Paul Simon, Elton John, and Sting. Her list of high-stakes venues includes Buckingham Palace and the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where she sang the national anthem for the 2014 Super Bowl, the first opera singer to own that coveted role. She gets around, this household name-brand American soprano.
Fortunately for Santa Barbara audiences, Fleming also gets out west. Her handful of performances here over the years included a special intimate Hahn Hall recital in 2017, honoring the Music Academy’s 70th anniversary festival. She will make her first post-pandemic stop in town on February 1, at The Granada Theatre, (Editor's Note: Due to water damage at the Granada, this performance has been moved to the Arlington Theatre) a plum event in the UCSB Arts & Lectures series.