Fleming urges youths to be cultural ambassadors for world peace
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Xinhua, June 24, 2017
It is important for young people to be cultural ambassadors to strengthen understanding among countries, many of which are still divided over major issues of global significance though well-connected by the internet, said leading American soprano Renee Fleming.
"I think culture is a phenomenal way of getting to know another country...It is historic, it is timeless," said Fleming, known affectionately as "the people's diva" in the United States, in a recent interview with Xinhua.
"We all agree on the merits of great artists in history, whether it's visual arts and craft or music, and it's something that anyone in the world can appreciate in any given time," she said.
"So sharing that and really being a cultural ambassador is important to me and it's something I think is powerful and valuable. And no matter what is happening or what conflicts are going on," she said.
"It's also good for young people to experience the world and to have this experience of assimilation in another culture, with another language, with another history. I think it's a very good exercise and a good education. It helped me a lot."
"Much of the music that I sing comes from Europe and I grew up very much like a young Chinese artist who speaks a language that is not from Western classical music," said Fleming, who has played the heroine role in more than 55 operas.
"So for me the important thing was to study abroad and I had a year of government scholarship in Germany, not knowing that I would become a Strauss specialist and would really specialize in this language in his repertoire and I am singing Brahms, for instance in China," she said.
Known for her masterful renderings of works by composers, including Richard Strauss, Mozart and Handel, Fleming who has earned four Grammy Awards is now viewed as one of the finest sopranos of her generation.
Born in Pennsylvania, Fleming cut her teeth as a jazz singer to pay her tuition fees at New York's Juilliard School. Her big break came in 1988 when at the age of 29 she won the Metropolotian Opera audition.
She has since built a superstar profile that extends far beyond the classical realm through crossover albums, movie soundtracks, television talk shows and appearances at the Super Bowl and major international events like the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, the diamond jubilee concert for Queen Elizabeth II.
MUSIC IS POWERFUL EDUCATION TOOL
Besides performing, the soprano has taken on a range of other projects, including mentoring young singers, serving on several boards, including that of Carnegie Hall, and becoming artist adviser-at-large in 2016 to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C..
She worked with the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Kennedy Center to draw attention to music's role in the development of children's brain.
"This affects how children develop, if children play a musical instrument or learn the language of music, it is very good for them to do well in school. This is now been proven by scientists and research because they are better able to decipher oral information. So that's one piece of information," she said.
"The other is that music can affect so many wonderful therapies for various issues, like children in autism and Alzheimer's disease ... We are gonna find that music as a therapy can be very important. And the basic research is also interesting. It was just recently discovered that we had music before speech," she said.
DO NOT LET TECHNOLOGY ISOLATE US
Fleming also called on young adults to go to concerts, cinemas, museums more often to avoid the spread of an epidemic of loneliness and isolation as a result of the rapid evolution of internet-based technologies.
"I do think it (the epidemic of loneliness) has something to do with the fact that families have separated that we are all mobile and that we are all also connected to technology and so this is a problem everywhere," she said.
"Well, the problem with technology is that it isolates us. Our interaction is with a phone or an iPad or some sort of screen as opposed to directly with another human being. It is not a substitute for human connection," she said.
"I wish that more young people would understand that culture, whether it's in a theater music, museums, is an opportunity to be with someone else sharing the same thing that touches the heart. It's about developing your humanity more than improving your mind or becoming better at a task. I think the younger generation will increasingly understand that this is important."
The beloved artist, drawing experiences from her own life, encouraged young women to lead a balanced life between family and career.
"Women's lives are extremely important to me. I care very much about that. My mother was one of the first of all of my friends to have a job. She was a music teacher in public school and she considered it to be an important career. She was very dedicated and we were proud of her," she said.
"She taught us to be very proud of her and I've carried that with me. Even when I was little girl, she never said who will you marry. She said what are you going to do, what will your passion be, what will your career be, what will you pursue in life."
"I have this wonderful career that I absolutely love, and two beautiful children. It can be done. They are also leading a very balanced life. It's about balance."
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)