ACCLAIMED OPERA SINGER TO PERFORM AT FLORIDA SOUTHERN'S BRANSCOMB AUDITORIUM IN JANUARY

LAKELAND, Fla., Jan. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Four-time GRAMMY Award-winning soprano Renée Fleming will be performing on the campus of Florida Southern College to begin the New Year.

Fleming, a world-renowned opera singer, will bring her impressive vocal talents to Florida Southern College's Branscomb Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Jan. 8 alongside the Lakeland Symphony Orchestra. The performance will be the only orchestral backed concert of her tour stops in Florida.

"It's a significant event for Lakeland," said Amy Wiggins, the Director of the Lakeland Symphony Orchestra. "We're very proud to represent what an amazing community this is to Mrs. Fleming and what the performing arts can do in certain circumstances."

The show celebrates the 20^th year of professional opera in Polk County. Fleming will perform not only an array of opera arias, but also popular music from Broadway and movies. The Lakeland Symphony Orchestra will be led by frequent guest conductor James Caraher.

This performance was originally planned for New Year's Eve 2020 as a part of the Lakeland Symphony Orchestra's Night at the Opera fundraiser, but the event was called off because of the pandemic.

Fleming's accomplishments in the music world are immense. Not only has Fleming won four GRAMMYs, but she has been nominated 17 times during her career. Fleming has also performed songs for Academy Award winning movies such as The Shape of Water and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Fleming is a recipient of the National Medal of Arts, and in 2008 she became the first woman in the 125-year history of The Metropolitan Opera to solo headline a season-opening night gala.

Fleming has performed with Luciano Pavarotti, Lou Reed, Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Andrea Bocelli, Sting and John Prine, and she is the only classical singer to have performed the national anthem at the Super Bowl. Fleming also performed at a concert to honor the impending first inauguration of former President Barack Obama.

Tickets for the event range from $25-$100 and can be purchased through the Lakeland Symphony Orchestra's website: www.lkldsymphony.org.

About Florida Southern College 

Founded in 1883, Florida Southern College is the oldest private college in the state. The College maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 70+ undergraduate programs and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, nursing, and physical therapy. Florida Southern has a 14:1 student-to-faculty ratio, is an award-winning national leader in engaged learning, and boasts 30 NCAA Division II National Championships. Florida Southern is ranked at #8 among the "Best Regional Universities in the South" by U.S. News & World Report in its 2022 "Best Colleges" guide and is included in The Princeton Review's 2022 Best 387 Colleges guide and the "Fiske Guide to Colleges 2022." The 2021-2022 Colleges of Distinction guidebook praises Florida Southern's AACSB accredited Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise alongside the College's School of Education and its Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Poets&Quants, U.S. News & World Report, Fortune, and The Princeton Review further laud the Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise and the Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences as foremost programs in the nation for business and nursing education. Home to the world's largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, FSC has appeared on The Princeton Review's top 20 "Most Beautiful Campus" national listing for 12 consecutive years. Connect with Florida Southern College. 

SOURCE Florida Southern College