An Indiana native who became an opera superstar was given one of the highest honors of the arts world last night.
Photo by the Kennedy Center on Instagram.
Sunday night was the gala ceremony for the 2023 Kennedy Center Honors. Among the honorees was Renee Fleming. One of opera’s leading sopranos, and nicknamed “America’s Diva”, Fleming has sung for momentous occasions ranging from the Nobel Prize ceremony to the Diamond Jubilee Concert for Queen Elizabeth II to Super Bowl 48. She has also won a 2023 Grammy for best classical solo vocal album for “Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene”.
In recent years, she has also become an advocate into the arts, health and neuroscience.
During the medallion ceremony at the State Department, she said it took, “Not a village, but an army…learning how to sing without a microphone,” and said that “Celebrating artistic achievement… inspires coming generations and helps us all to flourish in so many ways. This moment and sharing it with such magnificent fellow honorees fills my heart with so much gratitude. “
Also yesterday was the Kennedy Center Honors performance where tributes are paid by others in their field. That ceremony will air on December 27th. Fleming was honored alongside Billy Crystal, Queen Latifah, Dionne Warwick, and Barry Gibb.
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