American soprano Renée Fleming was born on February 14, 1959 in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Both of her parents are music teachers. Her vocal studies take place at the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York in Potsdam. At that time, Renée Fleming, was divided between classical and jazz. She eventually decided on the lyrical art, which she continued to learn at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. Renée Fleming then studied in Europe, notably with Elisabeth Schwartzkopf, then returned to New York to the Juilliard School of Music. Her first major professional lyrical role took place at the Salzburg Land Theater in 1986, where she sang Konstanze in Mozart’s The Kidnapping. One of her favorite roles is the title role of Dvorak’s Rusalka. Her familiarity with Czech, a language spoken by her grandparents, gives her an ease with the text that few performers in the role can boast.

Joyce DiDonato is an American opera singer in the vocal register mezzo-soprano. Born in Kansas in 1969, she studied at the Acadamy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and has sung at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and all the major world-class opera houses and festivals. DiDonato is one of the leading classical singers of her time. Her broad repertoire ranges from Handel, Mozart and Rossini to Richard Strauss and composers of contemporary operas.
The mezzo-soprano first gained international attention in 1998 with her engagement as Angelina in ´La Cenerentola` by Rossini at the Teatro alla Scala. She is the recipient of major awards, such as the Grammy for Best Classical Vocal Solo in 2012.
Away from the stage, DiDonato is involved in many social projects. Or as she puts it herself, ´Since the beginning of my unexpected career, I’ve been looking for ways to bring the transformative, healing power of music to as many people as possible - whether on stage, in prisons, refugee camps or in the classroom.`