FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuscaloosa, AL – The University of Alabama College of Arts & Sciences School of Music presents a faculty recital featuring mezzo soprano Susan Fleming on Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in the Concert Hall of the Moody Music Building on the campus of The University of Alabama. The program, entitled “Art and Song” will feature works inspired by works of art. The program will include works by Cy Young, Francis Poulenc, Richard Wilson, Paul Simon, Ray Evans, Jake Heggie, and two works from Sunday in the Park with Charlie by Stephen Sondheim. The recital will feature guest appearances by UA School of Music faculty members Diane Boyd Schultz, flute; Osiris Molina, clarinet; Jonathan Noffsinger, alto saxophone; Jenny Gregoire, violin; Carlton McCreery, cello; Michael Johnson, bass; and Paul Houghtaling, bass-baritone. The concert is FREE and open to the public. For more information visit: www.music.ua.edu/calendar or call 348-7111.
Susan Fleming is the Voice Area Coordinator and Professor of Voice at The University of Alabama. As a mezzo-soprano, she maintains an active and varied career, appearing frequently as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, and in opera. A native of Richmond, Va., she has been acclaimed for her impeccable and communicative musicianship, as well as the clarity and beauty of her voice.
Fleming has appeared in concert as soloist at such venues as the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, Cantebury Cathedral, the National Gallery of Art, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Library of Congress. She has given concerts and recitals in Switzerland, Italy, Japan, and England, as well as numerous venues throughout the United States. In May 2008, she served as a master clinician and gave a recital at West University of Timisoara in Timisoara, Romania. She was invited back for more master classes and recitals in May 2009.
Fleming was twice the recipient of fellowships for the Bach Aria Festival and Institute. Her extensive oratorio and concert experience includes repertoire ranging from Monteverdi and Bach to Britten, Crumb, and Westergaard. Concert appearances include engagements with the Green Bay, Abilene, Macon, Annapolis Chamber, Tuscaloosa and Alabama symphonies.
A specialist in American Art Song, Fleming has been the guest recitalist for the Southern Regional and Mississippi State National Association of Teachers of Singing Conventions, as well as a Convention artist for both the Mississippi and Alabama Music Teachers Association. She also appeared in recital at the Festival of American Song in Boulder, Colo. She continues to be in demand for recital work, singing on concert series in Maryland, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama, as well as Washington D.C.’s prestigious Cosmos Club. Fleming was invited to perform for a Conference for 19th Century French Studies in Ohio, and the 7th International Conference of Spanish Caribbean/Latina Writers in New York.
Fleming received critical acclaim from Andrew Porter in the New Yorker for her portrayal of the role of Alessandro in the American premier of Handel’s Tolomeo with the Smithsonian Concerto Grosso conducted by Nicholas McGegan. Additional operatic roles include Prince Orlofsky, Hansel, Miss Todd, Dido, Tessa (The Gondoliers), Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi), Dinah (Trouble in Tahiti), Herself (The Proposal), Volpino (The Apothecary, Flora (La Traviata), and Queen of the Fairies (Iolanthe). She will premiere the role of Cornelia in a newly commissioned work for Alabama Operaworks.
Fleming was a semifinalist in the 1990 Concert Artists Guild International Competition in New York, and in 1991 was selected for the first International Marian Anderson Vocal Competition in Washington, D.C. She holds degrees from James Madison University (BME), Ball State University (MM), and The University of Maryland (DMA).