She was born in New York and studied at the Manhattan School of Music. In 1968 she was accepted at the New York Opera Studio while she was also a member of the Maria Callas Master Classes at Juilliard School (1971-72). During 1970-1976 she appeared in several American opera houses in San Francisco, New York, Baltimore, Pittsburg, Houston and New Orleans. In 1976 she started working with the Metropolitan Opera. Since then she has appeared internationally in major roles including Fricka and Waltraute [The Ring of the Nibelung/Der Ring des Nibelungen] in Marseilles, Lyon and Brussels; Hecuba and Cassandra’s ghost [The Trojans/Les Troyens] at la Scala Milan (1982); Klytemnestra [Elektra] in Santiago (1984); Amneris [Aida] in Montreal (1996); Jezibaba [Rusalka] and Genevieve [Pelleas et Melisande] in Seattle (1993); Baroness [Vanessa] in Seattle (1999), Mme de Croissy [Dialogues of the Carmelites/Dialogues des Carmelites] in Santa Fe (1999). She has also interpreted the roles of the Gingerbread Witch [Hansel und Gretel], Herodias [Salome], Jocaste [Oedipus Rex], Trovatore (Manrico)[The Trobadour/Il trovatore], Falstaff [Falstaff], Gioconda [La Gioconda], etc. Her repertory ranges from Baroque, such as Handel’s Giulio Cesare (La Monnaie), to premieres of contemporary works, such as Bernstein’s A Quiet Place (La Scala), Adam’s The Death of Klinghoffer (La Monnaie), Lang’s Modern Painters (Santa Fe and San Francisco) and Gohr’s Arianna (Covent Garden). She has participated in the recording of Adam’s The Death of Klinghoffer (Nonesuch). She was scheduled to appear in Salome at the GNO but the performance was cancelled due to a strike (1979/80, Herodeion).