US soprano Renee Fleming sharing the dream with next generation

Superstar soprano Renee Fleming took time out on the weekend to mentor three virtually unknow­n Australian singers.

America's leading soprano Renee Fleming after conducting a masterclass with up and coming singers Sarah Ampil (red dress), Zoe Drummond (yellow dress) and Elizabeth Lewis (purple dress) at the Opera House on Saturday.

Renee Fleming might have performed for the Queen, US President Barack Obama and at Nobel Peace Prize and Olympic Games ceremonies, but at the weekend the superstar soprano took time out to mentor three virtually unknow­n Australian singers.

Fleming — who has won four Grammy awards and is regarded as America’s leading soprano — conducted a masterclass at the Sydney Opera House for developing local opera singers Sarah Ampil, Zoe Drummond and Elizabeth Lewis. They are joint winners of the 2015 Sydney Opera House Award, which offers young, emerging singers mentor­ing by internationally renowned artists.

In an exclusive interview, Fleming, who is giving a series of concerts in Australia, said highly successful singers mentoring begin­ners has “belonged to our (opera’s) tradition always. It’s been an important part of what we do. Once we’ve had the satisfaction of achieving our dreams …. then we really want to help the next generation. I think it’s pretty universal. But also for the art form it’s important; in the States, I wish there were more stars, people who really stand out.’’

The lyric soprano, who sang in front of a live television audience of 100 million at last year’s Super Bowl, said she was mentored by singers including Leontyne Pryce, Marilyn Horne and Australia’s favourite diva, Joan Sutherland.

Fleming visited Sutherland in Switzerland in the 1990s, where the Australian singer talked about combining a car­eer with motherhood “and about how she was able to sing those amazing high notes which were so elusive to me. She was brilliant. She was very generous and just to see the needlepoint (Sutherland’s hobby) up close was, for me, a thrill.’’

During the masterclass, the apprentice singers sang works by Donizetti, Dvorak and Mozart. Among Fleming’s more unusual tips: how to practise singing with a straw or pencil held between the teeth, in order to modulate the voice or create a bigger range.

Sydney-based soprano Drummond said she was “shocked but also I felt very privileged and honoured’’ when she learned she would be taking part in Fleming’s class. The diva “made me feel very at ease’’.

Last night, Fleming gave a recit­al before a sell-out crowd at the Sydney Opera House; she will also perform in Melbourne and Brisbane. Known in the US as “the people’s diva’’, she has sung on the world’s leading opera stages, at Mr Obama’s inauguration concer­t, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert.