Soprano Renée Fleming is one of the most celebrated classical singers of our time. With her compelling stage presence and remarkable voice, she has performed at the world’s greatest opera stages and concert halls. She has sung in Italian, German, French, Czech, and Russian. Her signature roles include Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello, Countess Rosina Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata, and Marschallin in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier among many others. A three-time Grammy winner for her classical contributions, Fleming is also a champion of new music. She has performed works by a wide range of contemporary composers and in 2008, Fleming released the indie rock album, Dark Hope. This fall, Ms. Fleming returns to the San Francisco Opera in the title role of Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia.
Steven Winn is a freelance writer and critic who spent 28 years at the San Francisco Chronicle, the last six as the paper’s Arts and Culture Critic. His work has appeared in California, Good Housekeeping, Sports Illustrated and other publications. His memoir, Come Back, Como: Winning the Heart of a Reluctant Dog, was published in 2009.