Kennedy Center honoree Renée Fleming explores nature and mind-body connection in new works

A special blend of artistry and advocacy is coming to town as renowned opera singer and Kennedy Center Honoree Renée Fleming brings her Grammy Award-winning album “Voice of Nature: the Anthropocene” and celebrated presentation series “Music and Mind” to the 2024 Savannah Music Festival.

Fleming’s astounding career has included performances at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to the Super Bowl, where she was the first classical artist to sing the national anthem. When the pandemic halted touring, her career grew into new arenas. During lockdown, Fleming found comfort and balance in spending time outside. Paired with a news cycle flooded with climate change, these walks reinvigorated her appreciation of nature and presented new possibilities she explored, naturally, through creativity.

“Human beings are hard-wired for artistic expression and creativity. It’s clear we evolved this way for social cohesion, which is crucial for survival, but also as a way to share, process, and understand our emotions and life events—large or small, tragic or joyful,” Fleming said. “In arts and creative expression, we can find common ground and bridge ever more alarming divisions, and combat isolation and loneliness, which, in our digital age (and in the aftermath of a pandemic) are at epidemic proportions.”

Inspired by the reflections of Romantic-era creatives and contemporary artists, “Voice of Nature: the Anthropocene” is Fleming’s investigation of nature as a source of inspiration and a victim of humanity’s cruelties. Collaborating with her close friend Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the album mixes classical, Romantic and contemporary stylings. Her Savannah Music Festival performance will include pieces from the album, including pieces from Handel and Björk, a track she performed in “The Lord of the Rings” and original pieces by Kevin Puts and Nico Muhly.

Fleming was delighted when the album received a Grammy for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album in 2023, so she reached out to the National Geographic Society to help elevate the album to new levels. The result is a beautiful film that will be presented in the second half of Fleming’s performance at the festival, offering a robust experience of the natural world as both a muse and a vulnerable being.

Healing and the mind

Fleming’s artistic exploration of the overlap between music and the natural world also includes smaller ecosystems—like the human body.

“As a singer, I’ve been interested in the mind-body connection since early in my career. Singing, especially for classical music, depends on development and control of a lot of involuntary muscles; and releasing tension (for instance, the nerves that come with performing in front of thousands of people) is crucial,” Fleming said.

This interest developed into a larger project when news of neuroscientists using music in their studies came across her desk. In a meeting with then Director of the National Institutes of Health Dr. Francis Collins, Fleming learned music activates many areas of the brain, meaning our favorite tunes can be a helpful tool in our ever-evolving understanding of a fascinating organ.

This discovery shines through in Fleming’s work as Artistic Advisor at Large to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a position allowing her to bring the arts and health together. Collaborating with the National Institutes of Health and the National Endowment for the Arts, “Music and Mind” creates space for artists and healthcare professionals to discuss the relationship between the arts and health.

“I have always been aware on some level of the transformative power of the arts,” Fleming said. “A musician can see, to some extent, how moved an audience is by a performance. But it has been incredible to learn, over the past few years, how the art I’ve devoted my life to is being leveraged to profoundly improve specific health outcomes.”

While most value music as a mood booster, Fleming said music offers numerous additional health benefits. Rhythm tests may help diagnose individuals with dyslexia and autism, and rhythmic entertainment therapies have helped people with Parkinson’s disease improve their mobility. Musical education helps children develop auditory learning skills, and melodic intonation therapies have helped traumatic brain injury and stroke patients regain their voice. Music is no longer just an art. It’s a life-changing tool.

Advances like these have inspired discussions across the globe as Fleming hosted distinguished guests of “Mind and Music,” including US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, M.D., author Deepak Chopra M.D. and Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. Since every panel features local scientists and practitioners discussing their research and developments in the medical field, there’s rarely a shortage of questions. Savannah Music Festival guests are encouraged to become part of this conversation during the Q&A session immediately following “Music and Mind.”

If "Music and Mind" piques your interest beyond the Q&A, Fleming’s latest anthology, “Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness,” published on April 9, offers similarly interesting insight. Much like “Music and Mind,” the book features scientists such as Dan Levitin and Joke Bradt, artists Anna Deavere Smith and Yo-Yo Ma among others, notable authors such as Ann Patchett and Richard Powers, and leaders of arts and medical institutions.

“My career as a musician has taken me all over the world, to see places and to meet people I never would have encountered otherwise. I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of really momentous occasions, and now I have a platform to raise awareness about the power of the arts for everyone and the beauty of the natural world and the peril it is facing,” Fleming said. “All of this is incredibly rewarding.”

If You Go >>

What: “Voice of Nature: the Anthropocene”

When: 4 to 5:45 p.m., March 31

Where: Lucas Theatre

Tickets: $39 - $73

Info: savannahmusicfestival.org

and

What: “Music and Mind”

When: 6 to 7 p.m., April 1

Where: Savannah Cultural Arts Center.

Tickets: Admission is free.

Info: savannahmusicfestival.org

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Renée Fleming to perform at 2024 Savannah Music Festival