She was born in Johannesburg. She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, where from she received a diploma in classical singing. Following a successful career as a singer in Europe she focused on directing operas. She has worked for more than twelve years as assistant of director Margarete Wallmann (Grand Theater of Liceu in Barcelona, Royal Opera of London, Paris Opera, and elsewhere). She premiered at the opera A Masked Ball (Un ballo in maschera, Capitol Theater of Toulouse, 1982) and then directed operas in Genoa (La traviata), Toulon, Marseille, Mantua, the Vittorio Emanuele Theater in Messina, the Royal Theater in Turin, the Giglio Theater in Lucca and the Puccini Festival (Torre del Lago). For the Greek National Opera she directed the operas Nabucco (Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Athens Festival, 1992), Otello and Carmen (1998/9, where she also designed the lighting). Her repertoire includes the operas La bohème (Smirne), The Barber of Seville (Il barbiere di Siviglia, San Remo), Madama Butterfly (Puccini Festival), Faust (Grand Rapids Opera, USA), Manon (Palm Beach Opera, USA), Macbeth (Lecce), The Sleepwalker (La sonnambula, Cagliari), Ali Pasha from Janina [Ali Pasha von Janina] by Albert Lortzing (Tirana, world premiere), The Pearl Fishers (Les pêcheurs de perles, Bombay, New Delhi, Colombo), Rigoletto (Santa Cruz, Tenerife). She has collaborated with significant artists such as Placido Domingo, Seiji Ozawa, Montserrat Caballé, Katia Ricciarelli, Raina Kabaivanska and Roberto Alagna. For many years she was director and producer at the Monte Carlo Opera.