She was born in Salem, Oregon on 24/03/1952. She excelled as a dramatic mezzo-soprano in works by Verdi. While still studying at the University of Nevada, she was distinguished as a member of the Chorus of the Nevada Opera. She studied voice under the Opera's conductor, Ted Puffer. After getting her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music, she continued her studies at the Manhattan School of Music (New York). After winning a Bronze Medal at the 7th International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, she was accepted in the San Francisco Opera Merola Program and debuted with the San Francisco Opera as Azucena (Il trovatore). She was distinguished for singing roles such as: Amneris (Aida), La Principessa Eboli (Don Carlos), Ulrica (Un ballo in maschera), Lady Macbeth (Macbeth), Delilah (Samson et Dalila), Herodiade (Massenet's Herodiade), Leonore (La favorite) and more. She has also appeared as Marfa (Martha) in The Khovansky Affair (Khovanshchina), Jezibaba (Rusalka), Joan (The Maid of Orleans), Santuzza (Cavalleria rusticana), Adalgisa (Norma) and Madame de Croissy (Dialogues des Carmélites). She sang the role of Elvira Griffiths in the world premiere of Tobias Picker's An American Tragedy (MET, 2005). She has sung at major opera houses, such as the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Houston Grand Opera, La Scala Milan and the London Royal Opera, under conductors Daniele Gatti, Valery Gergiev, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, etc. In 2006 she founded and teaches in The Institute for Young Dramatic Voices (University of Nevada). She is also an opera composer. At the GNO, she appeared once in the role of Amneris in the opera Aida (Odeon of Herodes Atticus, 2008/09). // Last update of the biography: April 2020 - The list of the productions below is complete.