Renée Fleming is one of the most highly acclaimed singers of our time, performing on the stages of the world’s greatest opera houses and concert halls. Honored with four Grammy awards and the US National Medal of Arts, she has sung for momentous occasions including the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and the Diamond Jubilee Concert for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. In 2014, Fleming brought her voice to a vast new audience as the first classical artist ever to sing the “Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl. On January 20, she sang for the private church service attended by President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris, along with congressional leaders of both parties, prior to the inauguration ceremony.

In May, Fleming launched Music and Mind LIVE, a weekly web series exploring the intersection of music and arts with human health and the brain. In 19 episodes, the show amassed more than 650,000 views from 70 countries. Fleming was inspired to launch the series by the Sound Health initiative she leads as Artistic Advisor to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in partnership with the NIH. She has given presentations with scientists and practitioners on this subject around the world.

Fleming has recorded everything from complete operas and song recitals to jazz and indie rock. Her voice is featured on the soundtracks of Best Picture Oscar winners The Shape of Water and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. In 2019, she appeared opposite Ben Whishaw in Norma Jean Baker of Troy to open The Shed in New York City. Later that year, she appeared in the London premiere of The Light in the Piazza, subsequently bringing the acclaimed production to Los Angeles and Chicago. Fleming earned a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the 2018 Broadway production of Carousel.

Her other awards include the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, Germany’s Cross of the Order of Merit, and France’s Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. www.reneefleming.com.

Active as an opera fanatic and factotum since 2001, Rob Ainsley has explored every facet of the art form across the country, and lives to pass on his enthusiasm to others. He is an alumnus of the University of Cambridge, Mannes College of Music, and the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera. Since then, he has been the co-founder and principal conductor of the Greenwich Music Festival, guest chorus master at the English National Opera, associate music director at Portland Opera, head of the music staff and chorus master at Minnesota Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and a faculty member at Westminster Choir College’s CoOPERAtive Program.

Ainsley is now the director of the Washington National Opera’s Cafritz Young Artists program and the American Opera Initiative, seeking out and preparing the finest young American singers, composers, and librettists for international careers. His artists have performed on the world’s leading stages, won the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, been finalists in Operalia, and performed with Ainsley at the 2018 White House State Dinner for the President of France. Most recently, he was featured in recital with Renée Fleming as part of the Metropolitan Opera’s “Met Stars Live in Concert” series.

Ainsley has conducted his own realizations of 17th-century operas, collaborated on a string of world premieres, presented programs of art song in a recital series of his own creation, and lectured on everything from John Adams to Alexander von Zemlinsky. Through it all, he has inspired hundreds of young artists and thousands of audience members to share his passion; he prides himself on the friendships he has formed along the way.

Spearheading the Berkeley Brain Initiative, Ehud Isacoff is the director of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and of the Weill Neurohub East, which—in partnership with UC San Francisco and University of Washington—aims to speed transformative innovations in neuroscience from basic research and technology development to clinical care.

Isacoff’s lab research focuses on the molecular and biophysical basis of the electrical signaling of neurons and the chemical signaling that occurs at synaptic connections between neurons. He has pioneered optical neurotechnologies to observe and remote control the activity of brain cells and synapses. Innovations from his lab enable precise mapping of the functional strength and experience-dependent “plasticity” of synapses that underlie memory and go awry in psychiatric disorders. Isocoff is applying these approaches to restore vision in cases of diseases that cause blindness and movement disorders.

A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Isacoff received his education at McGill University and UCSF before joining UC Berkeley as a professor of neurobiology. He finds the beauty and mystery of music and literature as motivating as those of the brain and sees that much is to be gained by exploring the connections between the natural and social sciences and the humanities.

Tod Machover has been called a “musical visionary” by the New York Times and “America’s most wired composer” by the Los Angeles Times. He is the Muriel R. Cooper Professor of Music and Media at the MIT Media Lab, where he is also Academic Head and directs the Opera of the Future group. Machover’s compositions have been commissioned and performed by many of the world’s most prestigious ensembles and soloists, and he is particularly well known for his groundbreaking operas, including the audience-interactive Brain Opera and the “robotic” Death and the Powers. Machover is also recognized for designing new technologies for music such as Hyperinstruments, “smart” performance systems that extend expression for virtuosi from Yo-Yo Ma to Prince, and also for the general public. The popular video game Guitar Hero grew out of Machover’s lab, and his Hyperscore software is used throughout the world to teach music composition and creativity to young people. Machover’s City Symphony projects “have reinvented the symphony as a community event” (Musical America), and travel next to India, the Koreas, and throughout the United States. Machover is also devoted to discovering theories, techniques, and tones that allow music to promote wellbeing and combat diseases that range from Alzheimer’s to depression to a variety of COVID-related conditions.

TRANSLATIONS

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL

“Calm thou my soul” from Alexander Balus
[Thomas Morell]
Calm thou my soul, kind Isis,
with a noble scorn of life,
ideal joys, and momentary pains,
that scatter, or disturb this waking dream.

Convey me to some peaceful shore,
where no tumultuous billows roar,
where life, though joyless, still is calm,
and sweet content is sorrow’s balm.
There, free from pomp and care to wait,
forgetting and forgot, the will of fate.

“To fleeting pleasures” from Samson
[Newburgh Hamilton]
Sung by Dalila and based on Milton’s Samson Agonistes
To fleeting pleasures make your court,
no moment to lose, for life is short!
The present now’s our only time,
the missing that our only crime.

HUGO WOLF

“Die Spröde”
[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]
An dem reinsten Frühlingsmorgen
Ging die Schäferin und sang,
Jung und schön und ohne Sorgen,
Daß es durch die Felder klang,
So la la! le ralla!

Thyrsis bot ihr für ein Mäulchen
Zwei, drei Schäfchen gleich am Ort,
Schalkhaft blickte sie ein Weilchen;
Doch sie sang und lachte fort:
So la la! le ralla!

Und ein Andrer bot ihr Bänder,
Und der Dritte bot sein Herz;
Doch sie trieb mit Herz und Bändern
So wie mit den Lämmern Scherz,
Nur la la! le ralla!

“The coy shepherdess”
On the clearest of spring mornings
The shepherdess went out and sang,
Carefree, young and beautiful,
Till it echoed through the fields,
So la la! le ralla!

Thyrsis offered her for a kiss
Two, three lambs without delay,
She looked on archly for a while;
But went laughing and singing on her way,
So la la! le ralla!

And another offered ribbons,
And a third bid his heart;
But she made fun of heart and ribbons,
As she had done with the lambs,
Only la la! le ralla!

—Translation © Richard Stokes

“Mignon III” (“So lasst mich scheinen”)
[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]
So lasst mich scheinen, bis ich werde,
Zieht mir das weisse Kleid nicht aus!
Ich eile von der schönen Erde
Hinab in jenes feste Haus.

Dort ruh’ ich eine kleine Stille,
Dann öffnet sich der frische Blick;
Ich lasse dann die reine Hülle,
Den Gürtel und den Kranz zurück.

Und jene himmlischen Gestalten,
Sie fragen nicht nach Mann und Weib,
Und keine Kleider, keine Falten
Umgeben den verklärten Leib.

Zwar lebt’ ich ohne Sorg’ und Mühe,
Doch fühlt’ ich tiefen Schmerz genung.
Vor Kummer altert’ ich zu frühe;
Macht mich auf ewig wieder jung!

“Mignon III”
Let me appear an angel till I become one;
Do not take my white dress from me!
I hasten from the beautiful earth
Down to that impregnable house.

There in brief repose I’ll rest,
Then my eyes will open, renewed;
My pure raiment then I’ll leave,
With girdle and rosary, behind.

And those heavenly beings,
They do not ask who is man or woman,
And no garments, no folds
Cover the transfigured body.

Though I lived without trouble and toil,
I have felt deep pain enough.
I grew old with grief before my time;
O make me forever young again!

—Translation © Richard Stokes

GABRIEL FAURÉ

[Paul Verlaine]
“Prison”
Le ciel est, par-dessus le toit,
Si bleu, si calme!
Un arbre, par-dessus le toit,
Berce sa palme.

La cloche, dans le ciel qu’on voit,
Doucement tinte.
Un oiseau sur l’arbre qu’on voit
Chante sa plainte.

Mon Dieu, mon Dieu, la vie est là,
Simple et tranquille.
Cette paisible rumeur-là
Vient de la ville.

Qu’as-tu fait, ô toi que voilà
Pleurant sans cesse,
Dis, qu’as-tu fait, toi que voilà,
De ta jeunesse?

The sky, up above the roof,
So blue, so calm!
A tree, up above the roof,
Waves its foliage.

The bell, in the sky that one can see,
Softly rings.
A bird, on the tree that one can see,
Sings her lament.

My God, my God, life is there,
Simple and tranquil.
This peaceful murmuring
Comes from the town.

What have you done, O you there,
Weeping ceaselessly,
Say, what have you done, you there,
With your youth?

CLAIRE DELBOS

“Dors”
[Cécile Sauvage]
Dors dans le nid douillet
de ma chair maternelle
Dors sans émoi,
sans rêve et sans larmes encore;
Demain tu connaîtras ce que pèse ton aile
Et ton coeur tremblera de pressentir la mort.

“Sleep”
Sleep in the cozy nest
of my maternal flesh;
Sleep without emotion,
Without dreams and as yet without tears;
Tomorrow you will know the weight on your wings
And your heart will tremble with the foreboding of death.

HENRI DUPARC

“Le manoir de Rosemonde”
[Robert de Bonnières]

De sa dent soudaine et vorace,
Comme un chien l’amour m’a mordu…
En suivant mon sang répandu,
Va, tu pourras suivre ma trace…

Prends un cheval de bonne race,
Pars, et suis mon chemin ardu,
Fondrière ou sentier perdu,
Si la course ne te harasse!

En passant par où j’ai passé,
Tu verras que seul et blessé
J’ai parcouru ce triste monde.

Et qu’ainsi je m’en fus mourir
Bien loin, bien loin, sans découvrir
Le bleu manoir de Rosemonde.

“The manor of Rosemonde”
With his sudden and voracious tooth,
Like a dog, love has bitten me…
Following my spilled blood,
Go, you will be able to track me.

Take a thoroughbred horse,
Set out, and follow my arduous way,
Through ravine and lost trails,
if the race doesn’t fatigue you!

Passing where I passed,
you will see that alone and hurt
I traveled through this sad world,

And this is how I came to die
far away, far away, without ever finding
the blue manor of Rosemonde.

GEORGE GERSHWIN

“Fascinating Rhythm”
[Ira Gershwin]
Got a little rhythm, a rhythm, a rhythm
That pit-a-pats through my brain.
So darn persistent, the day isn’t distant
When it’ll drive me insane.
Comes in the morning without any warning,
And hangs around all day.
I’ll have to sneak up to it,
Someday, and speak up to it,
I hope it listens when I say:
“Fascinating Rhythm
You’ve got me on the go!
Fascinating Rhythm
I’m all a-quiver.
What a mess you’re making!
The neighbors want to know
Why I’m always shaking
Just like a flivver.
Each morning I get up with the sun,
(Start a-hopping never stopping)
To find at night, no work has been done.
I know that
Once it didn’t matter
But now you’re doing wrong;
When you start to patter
I’m so unhappy.
Won’t you take a day off?
Decide to run along
Somewhere far away off
And make it snappy!
Oh, how I long to be the man I used to be!
Fascinating Rhythm,
Oh, won’t you stop picking on me!”

Renée Fleming appears by arrangement with IMG Artists, www.imgartists.com.

Ms. Fleming is an exclusive recording artist for Decca and Mercury Records (UK).

Ms. Fleming’s jewelry is by Ann Ziff for Tamsen Z.

reneefleming.com

CREDITS

For Cal Performances at Home
Tiffani Snow, Producer
Jeremy Little, Technical Director
Jeremy Robins, Executive Video Producer
Jeremy Robins, Director

For Long Story Short Media
Jessica Stuart, Executive Producer
Joshua Hall, Producer
De’Anthony Lucas, Production Manager
James Curry, Director of Photography
Theodore Jones, Camera Operator/Editor
Evan Sevilla, Camera Operator
Noah White, Camera Operator
Chris Varga, Lighting Director
Sam Grodnitzky, Grip
Juan Rocha, Audio
James Bazen, Audio Assist
Aaron Hoffman, Media Manager
Phil Blankenship, Teleprompter
Andrew Strasel, Editor

For Future Tense Media
Jesse Yang, Creative Director

For Cal Performances
EXECUTIVE OFFICE
Jeremy Geffen, Executive and Artistic Director
Kelly Brown, Executive Assistant to the Director

ADMINISTRATION
Andy Kraus, Director of Strategy and Administration
Calvin Eng, Chief Financial Officer
Rafael Soto, Finance Specialist
Marilyn Stanley, Finance Specialist
Gawain Lavers, Applications Programmer
Ingrid Williams, IT Support Analyst
Sean Nittner, Systems Administrator

ARTISTIC PLANNING
Katy Tucker, Director of Artistic Planning
Robin Pomerance, Artistic Administrator

DEVELOPMENT
Taun Miller Wright, Chief Development Officer
Elizabeth Meyer, Director of Institutional Giving
Jennifer Sime, Associate Director of Development, Individual Giving
Jamie McClave, Individual Giving and Special Events Officer
Jocelyn Aptowitz, Major Gifts Associate

EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
Rica Anderson, Interim Director, Artistic Literacy

ARTISTIC PLANNING
Judy Hatch, Human Resources Director
Shan Whitney, Human Resources Generalist

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Jenny Reik, Director of Marketing and Communications
Ron Foster-Smith, Associate Director of Marketing
Mark Van Oss, Communications Editor
Louisa Spier, Public Relations Manager
Cheryl Games, Web and Digital Marketing Manager
Jeanette Peach, Public Relations Senior Associate
Elise Chen, Email Production Associate
Lynn Zummo, New Technology Coordinator
Terri Washington, Social Media and Digital Content Specialist

OPERATIONS
Jeremy Little, Production Manager
Alan Herro, Production Admin Manager
Kevin Riggall, Head Carpenter
Matt Norman, Head Electrician
Tom Craft, Audio/Video Department Head
Jo Parks, Video Engineer
Tiffani Snow, Event Manager
Ginarose Perino, Rental Business Manager
Rob Bean, Event Operations Manager

STAGE CREW
Charles Clear, Senior Scene Technician
David Ambrose, Senior Scene Technician
Jacob Heule, Senior Scene Technician
Jorg Peter “Winter” Sichelschmidt, Senior Scene Technician
Joseph Swails, Senior Scene Technician
Mark Mensch, Senior Scene Technician
Mathison Ott, Senior Scene Technician
Mike Bragg, Senior Scene Technician
Ricky Artis, Senior Scene Technician
Robert Haycock, Senior Scene Technician

STUDENT MUSICAL ACTIVITIES
Mark Sumner, Director, UC Choral Ensembles
Bill Ganz, Associate Director, UC Choral Ensembles
Matthew Sadowski, Director of Bands/Interim Department Manager
Ted Moore, Director, UC Jazz Ensembles
Brittney Nguyen, SMA Coordinator

TICKET OFFICE
Liz Baqir, Ticket Services Manager
Gordon Young, Assistant Ticket Office Manager
Sherice Jones, Assistant Ticket Office Manager
Jeffrey Mason, Patron Services Associate

Opening fanfare used by permission from Jordi Savall from his 2015 recording of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo on Alia Vox.

Major support for the Cal Performances Digital Classroom is provided by Wells Fargo.

Major support for Beyond the Stage is provided by Bank of America.
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