The University of Miami student organization Federación de Estudiantes Cubanos (FEC) kicked off its annual “Week of Cuban Culture” on Monday, March 8 by recognizing prominent leaders with its YUCA (Young Urban Cuban American) Award. Above, FEC members stand with YUCA Award recipients, from left, Alfredo Mesa, vice president of Dutko World Wide; Eneida Roldan, president and CEO of Jackson Health System; and Rudy Fernandez, vice president of Government Affairs at the University of Miami.

American opera star Renée Fleming, left, coaches Anna Hersey, a doctoral candidate in the Frost School of Music’s Opera Program, during a master class last Friday, March 5, at the Gusman Concert Hall on the University of Miami Coral Gables campus.

Met star Renée Fleming teaches master class for Frost School Opera Theater benefit

By ROBIN SHEAR

Metropolitan Opera superstar Renée Fleming proved to be one down-to-earth diva during her master class, presented by the University of Miami Frost School of Music Department of Vocal Performance, at the Maurice Gusman Concert Hall last Friday, March 5 on the Coral Gables campus.

The two-time Grammy Award-winning soprano and Met headliner worked individually to bring out the best in four Frost School of Music Opera Program master’s and doctoral candidates, each of whom performed a classical piece accompanied by piano before receiving Fleming’s constructive and energetic guidance.

Meanwhile, a large audience of students, faculty, alumni, and other community members received a rare glimpse into the exercises and intensive work that go into developing a truly great classical voice.

Fleming led the students, who had been preparing specifically for this class since January, through their selections step by step, emphasizing the importance of breath work and support, encouraging rib expansion, and describing the feeling as one of “singing on a cushion of air.”

“As you’re singing, don’t allow everything to collapse. Keep your core engaged,” she said.

Using vocal terms like mask resonance, head voice, squillo, and coloratura, Fleming peppered her concrete physical corrections with instructional and often humorous anecdotes from her own experiences as both a performer and fan of the art.

She explained the complexity of opera, which encompasses not only virtuosic singing but athleticism, foreign language mastery, acting, working with a live orchestra, and “being able to wear period costumes and not fall or catch on fire,” she joked.

She said that after three decades she finally has gotten to the point in most of her roles that she doesn’t have to think about singing and can focus on communicating. “Be easy on yourself. Be patient. It takes a long time to put it all together.”

She pointed out concerns, “Your chest is completely collapsed,” for example, and praised improvements, ultimately coaxing audible progress from each student’s performance as well as applause from the audience. Often her lessons came from personal insight: “When I’m singing well, I have no neck,” she said.

Soprano Anna Hersey, 29, from Minnesota, a Ph.D. candidate and fellowship recipient at the Frost School, was first to take the stage with Fleming. An Iowa State music graduate with master’s degrees in vocal performance and ethnomusicology from the University of Minnesota, Hersey came to Miami because she “was impressed by the growing Opera Program.”

Accompanied by pianist Wei Wei Wang, also a Frost School student, Hersey performed the aria “No Word from Tom,” from The Rake’s Progress by Igor Stravinsky. “It’s one of the hardest arias I’ve ever sung so it’s a little scary putting it out there to be criticized publicly,” she said, but added, “Our discipline is about constantly improving.”

“I love this aria,” noted Fleming during her approximately 30 minutes with Hersey. “It’s perfect for you…. You have to use the ultimate in breath and resonance.”

Following Hersey were baritone Jeffrey Wienand with accompanist Geoffrey Loff and Maria Fenty Denison, accompanied by Junko Kainosho. They performed Henri Duparc’s Phidylé and Giuseppe Verdi’s “Re dell’abisso affrettati” from Un Ballo in Maschera, respectively.

Fleming’s final student, tenor David Tayloe, was accompanied by pianist Anna Fateeva and sang “Il mio tesoro” from Mozart’s Don Giovanni. “There’s more body to be had in this sound,” Fleming told Tayloe, 22. “Don’t take anything away, only add—more breath, more support, more resonance, and let’s just see how much voice you have.”

Tayloe, who joined the Opera Program last August after receiving his bachelor of music degree from Louisiana State University, said of the experience: “It is an honor to be able to sing for someone so pivotal in the success of opera in the modern age.”

More than 300 tickets were sold for Friday’s master class—a benefit for the Frost Opera Theater, which has performances coming up April 15-18 at the Gusman Concert Hall. Key to securing Fleming’s appearance was jazz vocalist Rachelle Fleming, Renée’s sister and a Ph.D. candidate in vocal pedagogy at the Frost School.

The master class showed just how much hard work goes into honing the human voice for the quality needed to perform in a concert hall. “Singing is the most frustrating thing,” admitted Fleming, an internationally celebrated veteran of the art form. “Until you can do it it’s hard to understand.”

After the two-hour class, Fleming, who lauded the Frost School opera program’s level of foreign language cultivation, performance style, and aria appropriateness, went on to charm attendees at a meet-the-artist reception. A student/faculty performance, also a Frost Opera Theater benefit, took place that evening.

Fleming was in South Florida for a concert with the Russian National Orchestra in Boca Raton.

Whether he’s roaming the sidelines of Sun Life Stadium to cheer a Hurricanes touchdown or jumping up and down to celebrate a slam dunk at BankUnited Center, he’s a familiar fixture at University of Miami sporting events. But last Tuesday, Sebastian the Ibis made a house call to a venue that features performance of a different sort. Sebastian made his first-ever visit to UM’s Ring Theatre, shaking hands and interacting with students and posing for a photo (above) with the cast and crew of Baby with the Bathwater, a satiric comedy about the pitfalls of parenthood. The occasion was also special for the more than 300 students who attended the play free of charge as part of the Ring’s Totally Tuesday promotion, sponsored by the UM Citizens Board.

The academic endeavors and dreams of a group of University of Miami students moved a lot closer to reality last Tuesday when they were awarded a total of $50,000 in scholarships during the Woodson Williams Marshall Association and UM Black Alumni Society Scholarship reception.

“The scholarships awarded support students in their efforts to continue their education,” said Renée Dickens Callan, director of the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, which helped organize the event. “Each recipient was deserving, and it was wonderful to have the University community come together to recognize the students for their academic achievements, leadership, and commitment to service.”

Top scholarship recipients included Matthew Jones, a sophomore majoring in accounting; Tamara Taylor, a sophomore majoring in human resources management; Lolisa Wallace, a junior majoring in mathematics and broadcast journalism; and Kiara Wesley, a junior majoring in psychology.

During the event, held at the Lowe Art Museum, UM President Donna E. Shalala spoke and introduced the keynote speaker, UM alumna Shalley Jones Horn, director of community and economic development for Miami-Dade County.

Above: President Shalala poses with proud scholarship recipients.

Alonzo Mourning was honored with the inaugural MTI Humanitarian Award. Also pictured, from left, Linda Corey, Eneida Roldan, UM President Donna E. Shalala, Phil Corey, and Miller School Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt.

When the man of the moment, former Miami Heat All-Star and philanthropist Alonzo Mourning, walked on stage to accept the inaugural Miami Transplant Institute Humanitarian Award, a crowd of nearly 400 stood up and applauded thunderously. Mourning, with customary humility, thanked the presenter, UM President Donna E. Shalala, and the audience, which included several of his fellow organ transplant recipients.

Mourning, who underwent a kidney transplant in 2003, became spokesman for the institute in 2008 and has been spreading the word about the skilled surgical teams that perform more than 500 life-saving adult and pediatric transplants each year, making the institute one of the busiest in the nation.

“This is definitely an amazing honor,” Mourning said at the February 24 evening event. “I am very proud and I am very humbled to stand here and receive this. Like President Shalala said, I don’t do any of this for awards. My philanthropic work is done because I have received so many blessings, so many gifts, and they would be worthless if I didn’t share them.”

And, yet again, he didn’t absorb all the spotlight: “President Shalala and the Miami Transplant Institute also belong in the category—humanitarians,” Mourning said. “I could just as easily be presenting this award to you.”

The event also featured remarks from Miller School Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt; Eneida Roldan, CEO of Jackson Health System; and Alan Livingstone, professor and chair of the DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery. All three praised the work of the Miami Transplant Institute, operated jointly by the University and Jackson Memorial Hospital and the only Florida center to perform every type of organ transplant. They also lauded Mourning for his support for organ donation and his many years of selfless dedication to the youth of Miami-Dade County.

“Alonzo Mourning is truly exceptional, and I can’t think of a more deserving individual,” said Goldschmidt, CEO of University of Miami Health System. He told the audience about Mourning’s recent visit to Haiti to help UM set up a field hospital in the earthquake-ravaged country.

The award dinner featured silent and live auctions and musical performances. The dinner co-chairs, Linda and Phil Corey, thanked the many members of UM/Jackson leadership and the outstanding transplant physicians, nurses, and others who work every day to save lives. Phil Corey, who received a liver transplant at UM/Jackson in 2007, has been a longtime donor to the Miller School.