Students Get Exclusive Master Class Opportunity with Renée Fleming

While legendary soprano Renée Fleming was in town for her performance with The Cleveland Orchestra, she took some time to host a private master class open to CIM students. Masters student Caroline Bergen (voice, Schiller) was one of three selected to participate, receiving valuable one-on-one coaching from the vocal star, and others were just thrilled to be in the audience. Many took to social media to document their excitement, posting selfies with Fleming with comments like “We're officially on a first name basis!” and hashtags such as #ReneeFlemingRocksMySocks.

Junior Elora Lencoski (voice, Billions), pictured above, was in the audience. “Renée’s words were so inspiring!” she says. “It was nice to have a reminder of why we do what we do, and to be reminded of the joy our music brings to us.”

Artist Diploma student Coraine Tate (voice, Schiller) also found value as an audience member. “Ms. Fleming’s warmth, charisma, and honesty made it an exhilarating experience to be in the audience during the voice masterclass. I walked away with a better sense of what it takes to succeed in the classical music industry, while feeling incredibly encouraged and excited to take on the work of doing so.”

Other audience members included senior Emily Uddenberg (voice, Southern) who posed for a selfie with Fleming below. “Renée’s passion for opera and singing is contagious, and inspires young singers to love it too,” says Uddenberg.  “I only hope I get to continue that legacy, and create a new generation of students to love this art form as much as she and I do.”

Masters student Matthew Maisano (voice, Southern), posted this collage of photos from the master class with the caption “What an inspirational event!!! Cannot wait to see her in concert this weekend!!!”