Renee Fleming

“My parents discussed singing every night over the dinner table I had a tremendous music education.”

“Everybody's a work in progress. I'm a work in progress. I mean, I've never arrived... I'm still learning all the time.”

“Being steeped in the process of learning and exploring keeps me from becoming too nervous. Partly it's about not getting bored.”

“Learning operatic roles is ongoing, and I find that I can learn on the train or subway, during a manicure, getting my hair done, and even while driving if I only look at the score at red lights.”

“I've spent hours and hours doing research into Appalachian folk music. My grandfather was a fiddler. There is something very immediate, very simple and emotional, about that music.”

“I have had a very difficult time with stage fright it undermines your well-being and peace of mind, and it can also threaten your livelihood.”

“I think opera has gained a kind of glamorous appeal. It's a live performance that aligns all of the arts, and when it is represented in the media, in film in particular, it is presented as something that is really a special event, whether it's a great date or something that's just hugely romantic.”

“No voice teacher can be all things to all people. You have to gain information from whatever sources you can. You have to listen.”

“For years, I had no time for exploratory travel.”

“Having to travel so much plays havoc with your personal life.”

“Every singer eventually gets around to a Christmas disc.”