Jessye Norman's Big Idea
Setup
From the Aspen Ideas Festival 2007 Opening. Opera superstar Jessye Norman speaks (and sings) about the necessity of arts in our lives, and the importance of fantasy.
While in Aspen, she sat down in a very small room with very poor sound, and she spoke about her art and her life with Anna Deavere Smith. She did not sing a note, but the artistry evident in her passion and outlook left us all as moved as if we’d witnessed her on stage at the Met.
Learn More
Additional Information
Explore More
Arts
Museums are typically testaments to the past, but a growing number are using exhibitions to shape our response to the future—specifically to climate change. Museum leaders wil...
Storytelling, music, animation, and podcasts! Watch the magic of innovative content being born as creatives pitch their ideas to a panel of Planet Media judges, each hoping to...
William Shakespeare started writing plays in an era when popular theater was exploding and cementing its place in culture. Audiences spanned economic classes, professions and...
The stories we hear about migrants trying to escape difficult circumstances tend to focus on hardship, conflict, statistics and policy. We rarely get a deep look at any of the...
Whether expressed through systems that are easy to navigate, devices that are friendly to their users, and spaces that are pleasing to the eye, thoughtful design can break dow...
Shakespeare is ubiquitous in literature classes and theater, but the avenues of relating to his work are not always clear to young people and modern audiences. Some, such as S...
October is National Book Month, and we’re celebrating by looking back at some of our favorite conversations about reading and writing from the Aspen Ideas Festival and Aspen I...
Like Photoshop, photography, or even pigment, A.I. represents new technology for creative expression that aims to close the gap between imagination and physicality. Alexander...
Journalist Tom Friedman reflects on 28 years of reporting.
NBCUniversal News Group recently announced the honorees for its prime-time special, “Inspiring America: The Inspiration List.” NBC News’ Tom Llamas brings this conversation fe...
“Self-care” is the buzzword of the moment. But far before face masks and digital detoxes, ancient philosophers were thinking of ways to enhance human flourishing. How do their...
For Kate Levin of Bloomberg Philanthropies, Mayor Melvin Carter of St. Paul Minnesota, and Karen Brunwasser of FeelBeit (a community center that bridges divides between East...
As the impacts of climate change become more evident on natural habitats, widespread focus on protecting these places is more critical than ever. With Hollywood finally flexin...
HBO’s hit show “Succession” is the latest example of how well the themes of tragedy, betrayal, ambition, and love — which Shakespeare depicted for the stage centuries before e...
The search for meaning is at the crux of the human condition and the basis of Life Worth Living, a new book emulating one of Yale’s most popular courses. In this lively “hot s...
The Afternoon of Conversation is the Aspen Ideas Festival's pinnacle programming moment. Over 2,000 people gather in the Benedict Music Tent, an open-air venue with acoustics...
Jenna Bush Hager sits down with best-selling author Amor Towles to discuss his latest book, The Lincoln Highway, and the winding road that led him to writing. (Book signing to...
From “The Office” to being cheerleader for spirituality, comedic actor, writer, and producer Rainn Wilson is on a mission to show the world how embracing spirituality can help...
Javier Zamora’s migration journey took him from El Salvador to the United States by foot at age nine, while Jamie Ford’s great-grandfather emigrated from China to Nevada to mi...
Join best-selling author Amor Towles, moderator Don Katz, and fellow readers for an engaging discussion of Towles’s Audible original story: a stylish and alluring tale of art,...
