Artist Bios
Renée Fleming is one of the most highly acclaimed singers of our time, performing on the stages of the world’s great opera houses and concert halls. Honored with five Grammy® awards and the US National Medal of Arts, she has sung for momentous occasions from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and the Diamond Jubilee Concert for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. In 2014 she brought her voice to a vast new audience when she became the first classical artist ever to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl.
Renée’s current concert calendar includes appearances in London, Milan, Paris, and at Carnegie Hall, where she will perform a rare duo recital with world-renowned pianist Evgeny Kissin in May. In November, she starred in the world premiere staging of The Hours, a new opera based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and award-winning film, at the Metropolitan Opera.
Renée’s most recent album, released in January by Decca, is a two-disc compilation of her greatest live moments at the Metropolitan Opera, including some material never before released. Her previous recording Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene, won the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. A collection of classical songs and world premieres, with Yannick Nézet-Séguin as pianist, the album focuses on nature as both inspiration and casualty of humans.
In recent years, Renée has become a leading advocate for research at the intersection of arts, health, and neuroscience. As Artistic Advisor to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, she launched the first ongoing collaboration between America’s national cultural center and the National Institutes of Health. She has presented her program Music and the Mind in more than 50 cities around the world, and launched Music and Mind LIVE, a weekly web show that amassed nearly 700,000 views, from 70 countries.
In addition to leading SongStudio at Carnegie Hall, Renée is Co-Director of the Aspen Opera Center and VocalArts at the Aspen Music Festival, and Advisor for Special Projects at LA Opera. Renée’s other awards include the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, Germany’s Cross of the Order of Merit, Sweden’s Polar Music Prize, and France’s Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. www.reneefleming.com
Conductor Robert Moody celebrates his ninth season as Music Director of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and eighteenth season as Music Director of Arizona Musicfest. He was named Music Director of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra in June 2024. Under his leadership, the Memphis Symphony has enjoyed exponential growth in programming, recording, new commissions, and endowment growth to well over $25 Million dollars, while AZ Musicfest has become the premiere winter music festival orchestra in North America, boasting a roster of players from the world’s greatest orchestras.
In 2022, Moody was invited to conduct the Lakeland Symphony Orchestra in Florida in a gala concert with Renee Fleming. Following that experience, he was immediately named Principal Opera Conductor for Lakeland Symphony/Opera.
Prior to Memphis, Moody was music director of both the Portland Symphony (Maine) and the Winston-Salem Symphony (North Carolina). Earlier in his career, he held conducting positions with the Phoenix Symphony, Evansville Philharmonic, Santa Fe Opera, Brevard Music Center, Interschool Orchestras of New York City, and apprenticed at Landestheater Opera in Linz, Austria.
During the 2024-25 season, Moody makes his debut with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Tulsa Opera, both in performances with Renee Fleming; the Tampere Philharmonic and Romania’s Filarmonica Banatul; and returns to conduct the Portland and Greensboro symphony orchestras.
He has led many of the major orchestras and opera companies of the world, including the Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and Toronto symphony orchestras; Los Angeles and Buffalo Philharmonics, Minnesota Orchestra, and Washington National Opera. Internationally, his recent engagements include the Aachen and Baden Baden Symphony Orchestras in Germany, Orquesta Filarmonica de Bogotá (Colombia), and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Austria). He made his debut in China in 2024 with the Shen Zhen Symphony Orchestra. He is a frequent guest conductor in South Africa, returning this season for the third time to conduct the three major orchestras there – Cape Town, Johannesburg, and KZN Philharmonic in Durban.
Passionate about mentoring the next generation of musicians, Moody has spent recent summers conducting at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, and Highlands Opera Festival.
Moody’s work is available on several commercial recordings, including the Canadian Brass albums Bach and Legends, R. Carlos Nokai’s Fourth World album, and with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and trumpet legend Ryan Anthony on his Re:Mission Rubato album.
Robert is a close friend and collaborator with Grammy winning composer Mason Bates. Their friendship spans over 30 years, and Moody was the first conductor to commission a full orchestral work from Bates. Robert also commissioned several major works of Mason’s, including Rusty Air in Carolina, and the much-lauded Desert Transport.
A South Carolina native, Moody holds degrees from Furman University and the Eastman School of Music, where he earned his conducting degree with Donald Neuen. Additional studies included an undergraduate term abroad in Vienna, Austria, and a summer of study with Otto Werner Mueller at Le Domaine Forget in Quebec. He is a Rotarian and has served on the boards of AIDS Care Services, Winston-Salem YMCA, WDAV Classical Radio, and the Charlotte Master Chorale.