The world-famous soprano Renee Fleming is about to play a prominent role at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Fleming’s voice has filled the opera house in the past. But now Chicagoans will see and hear a lot more of her. Fleming’s just been named the Lyric’s first creative consultant and elected a vice president of the board. She’ll curate a new opera here.

“The only thing standing between opera as a living entity and opera as an historic art form is the creation of new works,” Fleming said.

Fleming plans to develop a program to find and nurture young singers, expose more people to opera, and present an annual musical, starting with “Oklahoma.” She’ll keep singing and touring, and do more performances here.

Fleming starts the five-year appointment right away.