Area music education to benefit from concert

Internationally-acclaimed soprano Renée Fleming will perform with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of music director Christopher Seaman at the Eastman Theatre on Friday, March 7 at 8 p.m. Fleming, a former Churchville resident, will sing "Four Last Songs" by Richard Strauss; "Un bel di" from Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini; "I Want Magic" from a Streetcar Named Desire by Andre Previn, and "Ebben, n'andro lontano" from La Wally by Alfredo Catalani. Fleming won a Grammy Award February 23 for her Classical Vocal Performance, "Bel Canto."

According to RPO President and CEO Richard Nowlin, "Renée Fleming is America's voice, the premier voice of this generation." YAR Executive Director Sara Krusenstjerna added, "We're very excited to bring an artist of Ms. Fleming's caliber to Rochester, and we're especially privileged because she is such a strong advocate for music education."

The performance will be a homecoming for Fleming, whose family moved to Churchville when she was 15 years old. The daughter of two music teachers, Fleming began her singing career in her father's church choir and school musicals. She did graduate work at the Eastman School of Music before making her opera debut in Houston in 1988. She went on the win the Met Auditions and the prestigious Richard Tucker Award. In 1999, she received the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance for her "Bel Canto" album. She has been nominated for Grammy Awards in the Best Classical Vocal Performance and Best Classical Album categories for 2002.

"An Evening with Renée Fleming" is a partnership of the RPO and Young Audiences of Rochester to support music education, outreach and arts-in-education in Rochester and surrounding areas. The RPO's Music Education and Outreach programs reach more than 100,000 children and adults each year with hundreds of concerts and educational activities. Young Audiences of Rochester provides standards-based arts-in-education performances, workshops and residencies each year for more than 100,000 students in a 20-county area. "The partnership works so well," Krusenstjerna explained, "because both organizations have been at the forefront of putting music and the arts at the center of education. Research has shown that learning is inherently a creative process. When you have arts at the center of education, learning improves."

Tickets for "An Evening with Renée Fleming" are $50 and $75. Gold Circle tickets are available for $150, and include premium seating, a post-concert reception with Ms. Fleming and a $50 donation to the RPO and YAR. Tickets are available at the RPO Box Office by calling 585 454-2100, www.RPO.org, and at all Rochester-area Wegmans Video Departments. Mr. Seaman will present a Pre-Concert Chat highlighting aspects of the concert at 7 p.m. Admission to the Pre-Concert Chat is free for all ticket holders.