SUNY Potsdam Sponsors Performance Featuring Renée Fleming '81 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center

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From left, Crane School of Music Dean Dr. Michael Sitton, soprano Renée Fleming ’81 and SUNY Potsdam President Dr. Kristin G. Esterberg, following the Saratoga Performing Arts Center concert.

• SUNY Potsdam and the State University of New York were the official corporate sponsors for “An Evening with Renée Fleming” at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

POTSDAM, NY (08/31/2016)(readMedia)-- More than 200 SUNY Potsdam alumni attended a recent performance featuring superstar soprano Renée Fleming singing alongside the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

As Fleming's alma mater, SUNY Potsdam was proud to partner with the State University of New York to serve as the official corporate sponsors for the Aug. 18 concert.

In a performance conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Fleming presented selections by Tchaikovsky and Verdi, along with other operatic arias, in her SPAC debut.

"SUNY Potsdam was so proud to sponsor this extraordinary SPAC performance featuring our acclaimed alumna, Renée Fleming '81, and the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra. We take special Potsdam pride in following Renée's amazing career as an ambassador for the arts," said President Dr. Kristin G. Esterberg. "As we mark our bicentennial, it's a wonderful time to celebrate the long legacy of excellence in music education and performance offered at The Crane School of Music. We were also honored to help support SPAC's mission in its fiftieth year."

A 1981 graduate of SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, Fleming studied music education at the College -- and made a name for herself as a rising star. She was chosen to sing a major solo in the Bach B-Minor Mass as a freshman, and later she performed at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid with the Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra. Beyond her classical training, Fleming was well known for performing jazz at Potsdam area bars and night clubs as well during her undergraduate years.

Since then, her talents have taken her around the globe. One of the most beloved and celebrated musical ambassadors of our time, Fleming captivates audiences with her sumptuous voice, consummate artistry and compelling stage presence. Known as "the people's diva," she continues to grace the world's greatest opera stages and concert halls, now extending her reach to include other musical forms and media. In 2013, Fleming was awarded one of the country's highest honors, when President Barack Obama presented her with the National Medal of Arts. She currently serves as the first-ever Creative Consultant for Lyric Opera of Chicago.

It has been a milestone year for both the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and for SUNY Potsdam, which is marking its bicentennial.

SUNY Potsdam and SPAC have a long history of collaboration. From 1970 to 1985, the College sponsored the Saratoga-Potsdam Choral Institute, directed by Crane Professor Brock McElheran. The Saratoga-Potsdam Chorus performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra at SPAC, while choristers received college credit for their studies.

For more information about SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, please visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.

Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York's only All-Steinway institution.

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