Rene Fleming

American opera singer, a soprano who made her professional debut in Austria, 1986. This was followed by a long period of self-doubt and frustration, emphasized by training that was not right for her voice from the German soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Tortured by horrible stage-fright, she had to overcome a fear of performing along with learning to trust the method that was best for her voice. Part of her study in youth was jazz singing and Renee can launch into a Duke Ellington Doo-wah along with Mozart and Schubert. Her stage presence developed along with her vocal skills and poise. The daughter of high school music teachers and raised by a classic stage-mother, a professional singer herself, Renee was musically trained from childhood. From 1983 to 1987, she attended Juilliard where she studied with Beverly Johnson. She traveled to Germany in 1984 for an interlude on a Fulbright scholarship. In one magical week in 1988, her fortunes rose with winning both the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions and the George London Prize. Judges were astounded at the shimmering, abundant radiance of her voice and she was suddenly in demand. Fleming is not sorry that her career was slow in starting as she did not feel ready before then. From that time, her career has been a series of triumphs. She made her New York City Opera debut in August 1989 as Mimi in "La Boheme." That November, she debuted at Covent Gardens and continued sweeping up accolades in Italy, France and America. In March 1991, she was called to the Met to cover for an ailing diva, noted as an "auspicious debut." "Her timbre is pure and fresh.... and she imbues the role of the Countess with dignity and emotional depth." In September 1989, Fleming married the actor Richard Lee Ross, whom she first met as a student at Juilliard. They have two daughters, born in 1992 and 1995. After 11 years of marriage, she divorced and is living with her daughters in Connecticut. Link to Wikipedia biography