The incomparable Renée Fleming returns to Spivey Hall to perform works from her recent album, Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene, inspired by the solace of hiking near her Virginia home. The music explores the connection to the natural world in Romantic era songs and highlights the peril and fragility of the planet today. 

The backdrop to the performance is an original video by the National Geographic Society. The recital will include music by Caroline Shaw, Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Ravel, Franz Liszt, Edvard Grieg, Jerome Kern, Hazel Dickens, George Frideric Handel, Nico Muhly, Joseph Canteloube, Maria Schneider, Bjork, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Howard Shore, Kebin Puts, and Burt Bacharach / Hal David.

“This music begins in a time almost two centuries ago when people had a profound connection to the beauty of nature. Now, we see the effects of our activity, and the fragility of our environment.”  –Fleming

Accompanying Ms. Fleming is American pianist Howard Watkins. A frequent associate of some of the world’s leading musicians on the concert stage and as an assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, Howard Watkins has accompanied the classes of legendary artists Renata Scotto, Frederica von Stade, Regine Crespin, Birgit Nilsson, Sherrill Milnes, and George Shirley. Mr. Watkins has served on the faculties of The Juilliard School, Bard College Conservatory of Music, the Merola Opera Program, the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program, and Yale School of Music as a Visiting Presidential Fellow.

Sponsors

The Franklin-Burke Voice Performances

Spivey Hall Friends Sponsors

Frederick ‘Hap’ & Elizabeth Bliss