When Opera Met Bluegrass: How the Renée Fleming & Béla Fleck Album Actually Came Together
Renée Fleming and Béla Fleck have collaborated on an album titled The Fiddle and the Drum, which blends opera and bluegrass influences. The project has been in discussion for nearly two decades, stemming from a meeting in New York City. The album features a mix of traditional and contemporary songs, showcasing Fleming's long-standing interest in Americana music.
- ▪The Fiddle and the Drum is set to release on May 29.
- ▪Fleming and Fleck have a combined 23 Grammy wins and have been discussing this project for almost 20 years.
- ▪The album includes guest appearances from artists like Dolly Parton and Vince Gill.
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| Original publisher | Billboard |
| Canonical URL | https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/renee-fleming-bela-fleck-album-1236259651/ |
| Publication time | Fri, 29 May 2026 16:11:03 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-29T16:20:02.338Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-29T16:20:10.813Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
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| Summary source text | contentText |
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| Cluster | fYwwSo4ia0D5 |
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| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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Renée Fleming and Béla Fleck Madison Thorn/Courtesy 2b Entertainment Trending on Billboard if ( !window.pmc.harmony?.isEventAdScheduledTime() ) { pmcCnx.cmd.push(function() { pmcCnx({ settings: { plugins: { pmcAtlasMG: { iabPlcmt: 2, } } }, playerId: '4057afa6-846b-4276-bc63-a9cf3a8aa1ed', playlistId: 'b7dab6e5-7a62-4df1-b1f4-3cfa99eea709', }).render("connatix_contextual_player_div"); }); } else { // This should only be get called when page cache is not cleared and it's event time. window.pmc.harmony?.switchToHarmonyPlayer(); } A collaboration between opera soprano Renée Fleming and genre-jumping banjo auteur Béla Fleck may seem, on the surface, like something that came out of nowhere.
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