LA Opera and Renée Fleming to Spearhead Los Angeles County Arts and Health Week

The week will culminate with participants attending Ms. Fleming’s performance in a June 18 concert featuring Kevin Puts' The Brightness of Light.

By: May. 26, 2022
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LA Opera and Renée Fleming to Spearhead Los Angeles County Arts and Health Week

Recognizing the extraordinary need for more programs and initiatives that incorporate arts into health and wellness practices, arts and health organizations across Los Angeles County have partnered to create a multi-day series of events to promote a deeper understanding of the essential connection between arts, health, and well-being. With acclaimed soprano Renée Fleming as advisor and advocate, LA Opera Connects is organizing Los Angeles County Arts and Health Week from June 12 through 18, in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture and the World Health Organization's Healing Arts Initiative.

Featuring presentations from organizations around the county, the event will examine the impact of the arts in local health communities, the connections between the arts, wellness and recovery, and the many resources available to Angelenos.

Los Angeles County Arts and Health Week will include demonstrations presented by diverse arts and health organizations in each supervisorial district. On June 15, Ms. Fleming will host a summit convening of these organizations at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Currently scheduled events include:

  • June 13 onsite demonstration with Lineage Performing Arts Center
  • June 14 onsite demonstration with partner institution Able ARTS Work
  • June 15 Arts and Health Summit at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, featuring a panel discussion and numerous presentations
  • June 16 Zoom presentation with UCLA Health and an onsite presentation and performance with Plaza de la Raza
  • June 17 onsite presentation with Koreatown Youth and Community Center

The week will culminate with participants attending Ms. Fleming's performance in a June 18 concert featuring Kevin Puts' The Brightness of Light at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Additional events will be held at The Getty and at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Visit LAOpera.org/wellness for a detailed schedule of all events and to RSVP for the June 15 summit.

"Who hasn't felt their heart quicken, had goosebumps, or even been moved to tears by a powerful musical performance?" said Ms. Fleming. "Shared musical and artistic experiences are among the most powerful ways to foster social cohesion, and research funded by the National Institutes of Health has demonstrated the scientific benefits of the arts for health and wellbeing. A transformational opportunity is at hand, so it is exciting to see the groundbreaking work of so many organizations in Los Angeles County, incorporating the arts and clinical creative arts therapies to advance individual and community health. This week-long, county-wide celebration will be a fantastic opportunity to share the amazing arts and health work happening right here."

About Renée Fleming

As LA Opera's Advisor for Special Projects, Renée Fleming continues her ongoing advocacy for wider understanding of the powerful relationships between music, health, and neuroscience. One of the most highly acclaimed singers of our time, she has been honored with four Grammy® awards and the National Medal of Arts, and she has sung for momentous occasions from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to the Super Bowl. She is also Artistic Advisor-at-Large for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Artistic Director of SongStudio at Carnegie Hall, and Co-Director of Aspen Opera Theater and VocalArts at the Aspen Summer Music Festival. (ReneeFleming.com)


Collaborators

LA Opera Connects
LA Opera's mission is to serve the public by producing world-class opera that preserves, promotes and advances the art form while embodying the diversity, pioneering spirit and artistic sensibility unique to Los Angeles. The LA Opera Connects initiative offers a robust variety of educational offerings and community engagement programs reaching people throughout every corner of Los Angeles County. It envisions an engaged and enlightened community in which all members have the opportunity to collectively enjoy the rich aesthetic, emotional, intellectual and cultural experience of opera.

Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture
The mission of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture is to advance arts, culture, and creativity throughout LA County. The Department provides leadership, services, and support in areas including grants and technical assistance for nonprofit organizations, countywide arts education initiatives, commissioning and care for civic art collections, research and evaluation, access to creative pathways, professional development, free community programs, and cross sector creative strategies that address civic issues. All of this work is framed by the Department's longstanding commitment to fostering access to the arts, and the County's Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative.

The World Health Organization-Healing Arts Initiative
From the very beginning, the WHO has brought together the world's top health experts to produce international reference materials and to make recommendations to bring better health to people throughout the world. The Healing Arts Initiative events aim to convene global arts and health researchers, practitioners and policymakers. As the world emerges from the greatest health crisis in a generation, Healing Arts aims to affirm what artists have always known and research is now proving-that the arts can heal.



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