Soprano Renée Fleming will host the June 12 summit at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

(Los Angeles) May 12, 2026 — With world-renowned soprano Renée Fleming serving in a triple capacity as advisor, advocate and host, LA Opera is collaborating with Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, First District; the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture; and the Jameel Arts & Health Lab , to present the fifth annual Los Angeles County Arts and Health Week Summit, taking place on Friday, June 12, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Ms. Fleming will introduce the daylong summit, joining local community leaders and organizations to showcase the ways in which the arts support wellbeing and enrich our lives at all ages. This year’s summit will highlight the growing momentum of arts and health as a driver of equity and wellbeing across Los Angeles County and beyond. Through a series of conversations, presentations, and experiential activities, participants will reflect on five years of progress and explore how to translate research into scalable, sustainable programs that strengthen communities through cross-sector collaboration.

The summit is presented through LA Opera Connects, which is dedicated to community engagement and learning programs. Participating organizations will include Arts and Healing Initiative, Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, National Endowment for the Arts, NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative (Renée Fleming Neuroarts Investigator Awards), Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, UCLA, USC Brain and Creativity Institute, and others to be announced.

LA Opera Connects is working with the offices of all five Los Angeles County Supervisors to coordinate an Arts and Health Week activation/event in each district.

Learn more and register at LAOpera.org/Summit.

"It is fantastic to see LA County Arts and Health Week continuing to thrive in its fifth year," said Renée Fleming, who serves as LA Opera's Special Projects Advisor and is a World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Health. "I am especially excited about this June’s emphasis on events in every district of the county. Strengthening grassroots connections between arts and health organizations is crucial for assuring that everyone across the region can access the scientifically proven, cost-effective benefits of the arts for well-being. This has been a key priority since the inaugural year of the program, but this year we’re working toward a whole new level of community engagement."

"It has been an honor to help lead this effort in partnership over the past five years alongside leaders in the arts, health, and community," said Hilda L. Solis, Los Angeles County Board Chair and First District Supervisor. "Together, we have built a countywide movement rooted in equity, access, and innovation. What began as a bold idea has since grown into a model for how the arts can advance health and well-being across communities. That momentum must continue and expand so every resident can benefit from the healing power of the arts."

The 2026 LA County Arts and Health Week Summit is made possible in part through major support from The Music Man Foundation. LA Opera was a 2024 recipient of the Foundation's Meredith Willson Award, which provides general operating funds to awardee organizations. "As we look forward to the fifth anniversary of this important summit, we are proud to support LA Opera’s continued efforts to permanently change the way music is embedded in our schools, health care system and community," said the Foundation’s Executive Director, Sarah Lyding.

"At the Department of Arts and Culture, we are clear in our conviction that the arts are not a luxury, they are essential to the health, wellbeing, and thriving of all communities," said Kristin Sakoda, Director of the LA County Department of Arts and Culture. "This year we are proud to mark the five-year milestone of the LA County Arts and Health Week Summit. Since the start, we've worked with our partners to invest in civic art in our hospitals and clinics, healing and trauma-informed arts education for youth and caregivers, grants to cultural organizations expanding arts access in our diverse communities, and more. As the vision for this work grows, we need leaders across sectors — artists, health workers, advocates, philanthropy, and policymakers — coming together to recognize, uplift, and embed the arts into the health and social infrastructure of every community across Los Angeles County. This summit is an important space to advance that vision, and I am proud to stand with our partners in making the transformative power of the arts accessible to all who need it most."

About LA Opera
Los Angeles is a city of enormous diversity and creativity, and LA Opera is dedicated to reflecting that vibrancy by redefining what opera can be. Through imaginative new productions, world premiere commissions, and inventive performances that preserve foundational works while making them feel fresh and compelling, LA Opera has become one of America’s most exciting and ambitious opera companies.

In addition to its mainstage performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the company explores unusual repertoire each season through the LA Opera Off Grand department, featuring performances in a variety of venues throughout Los Angeles.

The Arts and Health Week Summit is presented through LA Opera's Connects, the company's community engagement and educational wing, which is as integral to the company's artistic identity as its mainstage productions and Off Grand performances. LA Opera Connects currently offers 30 different programs experienced by more than 135,000 people each season. These broad-based engagement programs reflect the vibrancy and diversity of Los Angeles, reaching people throughout every corner of Los Angeles County.

Generously supported by Emanuel Treitel Trust, The Green Foundation and The Music Man Foundation, among other key supporters, LA Opera Connects offers a robust variety of educational programming and community engagement offerings that reaches people of all ages throughout every corner of Los Angeles County. Learn more at LAOpera.org.

LA Opera Media Contact
Marlene Meraz
Director of Communications
mmeraz@laopera.org
213.972.7554

Generous support for the LA County Arts and Health Week Summit provided by
The Music Man Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
LA County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, First District
Kaiser Permanente
L.A. Care Health Plan

The LA County Arts and Health Week Summit received additional funding from
Civic Practice Grant from OPERA America’s Opera Fund.

LA Opera Connects is generously supported by
The Emanuel Treitel Senior Citizen Fund
The Green Foundation
The Music Man Foundation

LA Opera is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the greater Los Angeles community.