Art & Creativity Quote by Lesley Garrett

Garrett frames fame as a delivery system, not a destination. The line reads like a quiet rebuttal to the old suspicion that opera can only stay “serious” by staying sealed off from mass appeal. Her emphasis on “the music…as well as me” is doing double duty: it reassures purists that her visibility isn’t mere celebrity vanity, and it acknowledges the uncomfortable truth that in a media economy, a human face is often the price of admission for an art form.

The intent is pragmatic evangelism. Garrett isn’t talking about dumbing opera down; she’s talking about getting people close enough to hear it. “Connect” is the key verb: not “understand,” not “be educated,” but feel a relationship. That’s a strategic shift from gatekeeping to audience-building, and it reflects the late-20th/early-21st-century reality of classical institutions competing with pop culture’s constant, algorithmic noise.

The subtext is that access requires translation. For many listeners, opera arrives pre-loaded with intimidation: language barriers, dress codes, long runtimes, an implied test of cultural capital. Garrett positions herself as the bridge, a recognizable personality who can smuggle the art past those defenses. The line also hints at a performer’s tightrope: use the spotlight without letting it eclipse the repertoire. In a field that often treats publicity as contamination, she argues it can be outreach - and that outreach is survival.