Grammy-winning soprano Renée Fleming to perform in Ann Arbor, show National Geographic film

World-renowned, Grammy-winning soprano Renée Fleming will perform at the University of Michigan’s Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Accompanied by pianist Inon Barnatan, called “one of the most admired pianists of his generation” by the New York Times, Fleming will present the world premiere of “Voice of Nature,” a new, multimedia performance experience. The work is inspired by her “Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene” album, which won her the 2023 Grammy for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album by taking songs from the classical, romantic and contemporary eras and combining them in a way that explores nature as both the inspiration and the victim of mankind.

“It’s going to premiere this phenomenal opportunity I’ve had to collaborate with National Geographic,” Fleming told the Free Press. “They’ve made a beautiful 30-minute film which follows ‘Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene.’ We’ll see images of climate change, and we emphasize the beauty of the natural world. “

Fleming will perform songs from the album as well as new commissions and even music from "The Lord of the Rings" and artists as varied as Maria Schneider, Bjork and Burt Bacharach.

Fleming, a National Medal of Arts recipient who has sung for the 9/11 Ground Zero memorial performance, the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, the Super Bowl and the “Lord of the Rings” soundtrack, is also a leading advocate for research into the nexus between art, health and neuroscience. On Wednesday at 6 p.m., she will join local researchers and medical practitioners for “Music and Mind,” a free, public panel discussion on the connections between health and the arts.

“It’s an emerging field,” she said, “and there’s a tremendous amount of interest in it, but a lot of the information will be new to the audience. We have a music therapist, a cardiologist and a musicologist presenting with me. One is looking at African music and dance; one is looking at music, improvisation and cardio hypertension; one is talking about pediatric patients. There’s also a lot of general research regarding music therapy.

“So many people have real-life experiences with not just the power of music, but visual arts and dance — with family members or even in their own lives. It’s an environment in which we hope to share what’s happening in the community. And the other exciting thing is that performing arts organizations have developed or maintained relationships with local health care providers and researchers as a result of these gatherings.”

She hopes people will leave the panel feeling enlightened.

“I hope they may want to be more active in making art, music, movement,” she said. “This is good for our health throughout the lifespan. There’s no question that even learning an instrument later in life, or picking up dance — any of these things can be really helpful. Childhood development is powerfully affected by a lot of this work. And it’s something that we intrinsically know, because it’s in our DNA.

“People also just love an opportunity to learn.”

Tickets to the Thursday performance start at $20, $12 for students. Purchase at www.ums.org.

Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Renée Fleming, Grammy-winning opera singer, to perform in Ann Arbor