Song of the Week (Christmas Edition)

Renée Fleming (with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) - Joy to the World

Tomorrow is Christmas Day, and what better way to celebrate than the voice of Renée Fleming. Fleming is perhaps the most accomplished opera singer currently alive. She has been a star at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City since her debut in 1991, so much so that she even has her own perfume sold in a bottle shaped like the lights hanging above at the Met.

She is a 3-time Grammy Award winner, most recently in 2010 for Best Classical Vocal Performance. She has also sung for Bill Clinton at the 1999 White House Christmas party and President Obama's inauguration, as well as performed for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and 2008 Summer Olympics in China. She has also performed in numerous movie soundtracks, most notably Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). Her list of awards and singing accomplishments goes on and on.

She continues to tour today, recently releasing her latest CD, Dark Hope. In this album, Fleming takes a break from her arias to perform covers of more current alternative bands (Death Cab for Cutie, Muse, Arcade Fire, The Mars Volta), as well as classic artists (Leonard Cohen, Peter Gabriel).

After seeing her perform live almost a month ago, I can assure you that she does live up to her impressive resume.

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