121 Quotes by Renee Fleming

I’ve spent hours and hours doing research into Appalachian folk music. My grandfather was a fiddler. There is something very immediate, very simple and emotional, about that music.

I think singing is one of the most natural things that human beings do, but it’s difficult.

Perfection often creates such a flawless surface that there’s no place for the audience to enter into a piece, while the idiosyncrasies of individual style are like windows into the singer’s heart.

I learned so many roles so quickly as a young singer, I thought it was time to come back to them and make them better – deeper, more nuanced.

The student’s job is to stay open-minded, to quell the knee-jerk defensiveness we all possess in the face of suggestions for improvement, and to maintain patience when faced with a process that is often slow, confusing, and frustrating.

I’m not a reactionary.

I have a certain image that’s more classic, and I’m happy to stay out of the fray.

I haven’t really been able to transfer into that extraordinarily other worldly creature, other than I hope on stage.

There’s no performance where I never have to think about setting up a phrase or making a technical adjustment while I’m performing.