Carnegie Hall Notables Present Love Letters with Renée Fleming, Alec Baldwin

On Thursday, November 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall, the Carnegie Hall Notables-a membership and ticket program for music enthusiasts in their 20s and 30s-will host Love Letters, a performance of contemporary American playwright A. R. Gurney's work. Celebrated soprano Renée Fleming and award-winning actor Alec Baldwin will perform the piece as directed by Mark Lamos with executive producer Susan Q. Gallin. After the exclusive event, the Notables will gather at Providence for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, with music by Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky.
Love Letters, a play by A.R. Gurney, traces the lifelong correspondence of the staid, dutiful lawyer Andrew Makepeace Ladd III and the lively, unstable artist Melissa Gardner. Their bittersweet relationship gradually unfolds from what is written-and what is left unsaid-in their letters.

Love Letters is generously underwritten by Pia and Jimmy Zankel. Additional support provided by Ryan Brown, Alexander Goldberg, Adriana Herrera, Daniel Montilla, and Jason Soloway. RÖKK Vodka is the exclusive beverage sponsor of the Love Letters after-party. The New York Observer is media partner of Love Letters.

This special event is hosted by Carnegie Hall's Notables, whose support benefits the music education and community programs created by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute (WMI). Love Letters benefits The Song Continues... an annual WMI program, created by acclaimed mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, which fosters the careers of young professional singers from around the world through public master classes with renowned artists and performances at Carnegie Hall. For more information on The Song Continues... click here.

For the November 17 Love Letters performance and after-party, Notables members at the Supporter level (annual contribution of $500) and higher receive complimentary admission for two to this membership event. Admission for non-members is $120 each (in honor of Carnegie Hall's 120th Anniversary) with the price of each ticket applied toward a Notables membership. Tickets are not available to the general public. For more information, please contact the Notables office at 212-903-9734 or notables@carnegiehall.org, or visit carnegiehall.org/LoveLetters.

Love Letters is part of a series of annual special events offered for Carnegie Hall Notables members. Previous events have included panel discussions exploring music's connection to other areas of culture including music and video games, Broadway's youth movement, film soundtracks, fashion, and politics. Celebrity panelists have included Academy Award-nominated film director Wes Anderson; musicians Lou Reed, Natalie Merchant, Moby, Pete Wentz, Rickie Lee Jones, Steven Adler, Henry Rollins, Ace Frehley, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels (Run-DMC), Grandmaster Flash, and Wu-Tang Clan's chief music producer RZA; Saturday Night Live's Ana Gasteyer; songwriter and composer Duncan Sheik; director and costume designer Julie Taymor; fashion designer Zac Posen; composer Lin-Manuel Miranda; and Sex and the City stylist Patricia Field.

About the Artists
One of the most celebrated musical ambassadors of our time, soprano Renée Fleming continues to grace the world's greatest opera stages and concert halls, now extending her reach to include other musical forms and media. In recent seasons, Ms. Fleming has hosted a wide variety of television and radio broadcasts, including the Metropolitan Opera's Live in HD series for movie theaters and Live From Lincoln Center on PBS. As a musical statesman, she has performed at the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and at the "We Are One" inaugural celebration for Barack Obama in 2009. A three-time Grammy Award winner, Ms. Fleming has recorded a wide range of CDs and DVDs, including Verdi's La Traviata filmed at the Royal Opera, the jazz album Haunted Heart, and recently a pop covers album Dark Hope. Master Chef Daniel Boulud created the dessert "La Diva Renée" in her honor, and in 2008, Ms. Fleming launched "La Voce by Renée Fleming," a fragrance with proceeds benefiting the Metropolitan Opera. Her awards include the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal (2011), the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (2005), and Honorary Doctorates from the Eastman School of Music (2011) and The Juilliard School (2003), where she was also a commencement speaker. Ms. Fleming is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of Carnegie Hall, the Board of Sing for Hope, and the Advisory Board of the White Nights Foundation of America. In 2010, she was named the first ever Creative Consultant at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Over the years, Ms. Fleming has performed nearly 40 times at Carnegie Hall including the dedication of Zankel Hall and Carnegie's season opening gala in 2004.

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