RENÉE FLEMING RETURNS TO ORANGE COUNTY THIS OCTOBER FOR TWO SPECIAL PROGRAMS
(IRVINE, CA, August 27, 2025)—The Philharmonic Society of Orange County presents two special programs featuring Grammy-winning soprano Renée Fleming this October.
On Monday, October 6, 2025, at 7:00 PM at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, Fleming leads Music and Mind, a panel discussion with local health experts and special guests exploring the power of music and its relationship to mental and physical well-being. Featured panelist Dr. Lisa Gibbs, Chief of Geriatric Medicine at UCI Health and Joshua D. Grill, PhD, Director of the UC Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders will join the discussion, with additional local experts and special guests to be announced. This event is free to the public, but reservations are required.
On Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at 8:00 PM at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Fleming reunites with longtime collaborator pianist Inon Barnatan for Voice of Nature: the Anthropocene Recital. Highlights of the program include Handel’s Care Selve and Twilight and Shadow from The Lord of the Rings, among others. This unique recital blends classical and modern works with stunning National Geographic visuals to explore humanity’s evolving connection to nature. Major support for this performance is provided by Elizabeth Segerstrom and the Henry T. and Elizabeth Segerstrom Foundation. Expanding on her 2023 Grammy Award-winning album of the same name, Fleming, in collaboration with National Geographic, celebrates the wonder of the natural world while underscoring its fragility. Through music and stunning visuals from National Geographic, audiences experience a moving tribute to nature as both our muse and our responsibility. “I thought of the great legacy of song literature that I love, when Romantic-era poets and composers reveled in imagery of nature, finding reflections of human experience in the environment. I decided to record some of this music, and to juxtapose these classics with the voices of living composers, addressing our current, troubled relationship with the natural world...my hope is, in some small way, to rekindle your appreciation of nature, and encourage any efforts you can make to protect the planet we share,” shared Fleming.
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. A 2023 Kennedy Center Honoree, winner of five Grammy® Awards and the U.S. National Medal of Arts, she has sung for momentous occasions from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to the Diamond Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. A groundbreaking distinction came in 2008 when she became the first woman in the 125-year history of the Metropolitan Opera to solo headline an opening night gala, and in 2014 she became the first classical artist ever to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. In 2023, the World Health Organization appointed her as a Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Health.
Fleming’s current concert calendar includes appearances in London, Vienna, Milan, Los Angeles, and at Carnegie Hall. In May at the Metropolitan Opera, she will reprise her role in The Hours, an opera which premiered last year, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and award-winning film. Last March, she portrayed Pat Nixon in a new production of Nixon in China at the Opéra de Paris.
A prominent advocate for research at the intersection of arts, health, and neuroscience, as Artistic Advisor to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Fleming launched the first ongoing collaboration between America’s national cultural center and its largest health research institute, the National Institutes of Health. She created her own program called Music and the Mind, which she has presented in more than fifty cities around the world, earning Research!America’s Rosenfeld Award for Impact on Public Opinion. In 2020, Fleming launched Music and Mind LIVE, a weekly web show exploring the connections between arts, human health, and the brain, amassing nearly 700,000 views, from 70 countries. She is now an advisor for major initiatives in this field, including the Sound Health Network at the University of California San Francisco and the NeuroArts Blueprint at Johns Hopkins University.
Fleming has recorded everything from complete operas and song recitals to indie rock and jazz. In January, Decca released a special double-length album of live recordings from Renée’s greatest performances at the Metropolitan Opera. In February, Fleming received the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo for her album Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene, with Yannick Nézet-Seguin as pianist. Known for bringing new audiences to classical music and opera, Fleming has sung not only with Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli, but also with Elton John, Paul Simon, Sting, Josh Groban, and Joan Baez. Fleming’s voice is featured on the soundtracks of Best Picture Oscar winners The Shape of Water and The Lord of the Rings.
“One of the most admired pianists of his generation” (New York Times), Inon Barnatan has received universal acclaim for his “uncommon sensitivity” (The New Yorker), “impeccable musicality and phrasing” (Le Figaro), and his stature as “a true poet of the keyboard: refined, searching, unfailingly communicative” (The Evening Standard). A multifaceted musician, Barnatan is equally celebrated as soloist, curator, and collaborator.
As a soloist, Barnatan has performed with the world’s foremost orchestras and conductors including the New York, Los Angeles, London, Helsinki, Hong Kong, and Royal Stockholm Philharmonics, the BBC, Chicago, Cleveland, and Boston Symphonies, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra Symphony.
Barnatan’s 2024-25 season highlights included performances with the Naples Philharmonic and the San Diego, New Jersey, Pasadena, Boston, Tokyo, Israel, and Atlanta Symphonies. He continued his collaboration with cellist Alisa Weilerstein, with performances at Stanford Live and Celebrity Series of Boston and alongside James Ehnes at Wigmore Hall.
Equally at home as a curator and chamber musician, Barnatan is Music Director of La Jolla Music Society Summerfest. He regularly collaborates with world-class partners such as Renée Fleming and Alisa Weilerstein and plays at major chamber music festivals including Seattle, Santa Fe, and Spoleto USA. Barnatan was a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program from 2006 to 2009 and continues to perform with CMS in New York and on tour.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, is located at 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Ticket prices for Voice of Nature start at $51 and are available at the Philharmonic Society box office at (949) 553-2422, online at www.philharmonicsociety.org, at the Center box office at (714) 556-2787, and online at www.scfta.org.
ABOUT PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY:
Founded in 1954 as Orange County’s first music organization, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County presents national and international performances of the highest quality and provides dynamic and innovative music education programs for individuals of all ages to enhance the lives of Orange County audiences through music.
Since its inception, the Philharmonic Society has evolved and grown with the county’s changing landscape, presenting artists and orchestras who set the standard for artistic achievement from Itzhak Perlman, Gustavo Dudamel, Yo-Yo Ma, and Renée Fleming to the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and many others. In addition, the Philharmonic Society celebrates multi-disciplinary performances under its Eclectic Orange brand and embraces music from a wide range of countries with its World Music performances. Its celebrated concerts introduce children to classical music with creative and inspiring performances, instilling music appreciation for future generations.
The Philharmonic Society’s nationally recognized Youth Music Education Programs, offered free of charge, engage more than 100,000 students annually through curriculum-based music education programs that aim to inspire, expand imaginations, and encourage learning at all levels. These programs are made possible by the Committees of the Philharmonic Society comprised of 500 volunteer members who provide more than 90,000 hours of in-kind service each year. As a key youth program, the exceptional Orange County Youth Symphony and String Ensemble provide top-tier training to the area’s most talented young musicians through multi-level ensemble instruction, leadership training, touring opportunities, challenging professional repertoire, and performances in world-class venues. The Philharmonic Society also promotes life-long learning by connecting with colleges and universities to conduct masterclasses and workshops and providing pre-concert lectures to introduce audiences to program selections.
Adaora Onyebeke
adaora@philharmonicsociety.org
(949) 480-4014
Marie Songco-Torres
marie@philharmonicsociety.org
(949) 553-2422, ext. 230