She made her professional singing debut in 1930 as a soloist with the Portland Symphony Orchestra while an undergraduate music student at Pacific University.
She continued to perform professionally while pursuing further vocal studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia from 1935–1938 where she was a pupil of Harriet van Emden and Estelle Liebling.
[6] After graduating from high school in 1929, Thorne studied music at Pacific University (PU) in Forest Grove, Oregon.
[8] She also appeared as a soloist with the PSO in George Frideric Handel's Messiah in December 1931[9] and Johannes Brahms' A German Requiem in February 1938.
[26] Thorne pursued further studies at the Curtis Institute of Music where she was a pupil of Harriet van Emden in the 1935–1936 academic year.
[27] On December 9, 1936 she sang three songs by Franz Liszt on a Philadelphia radio program dedicated to featuring Curtis students.
[34] She previously had worked as a soloist in other oratorios given at the Second Presbyterian Church under the music direction of Alexander McCurdy in the 1930s, including Brahms' A German Requiem, Gioachino Rossini's Stabat Mater, and Johann Sebastian Bach's St Matthew Passion.
[35] She continued to perform works under McCurdy at the Second Presbyterian Church, including working as the soprano soloist in Bach's Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80 (November 1938),[36] Richard Purvis's Mass of Saint Nicholas (March 1940),[37] Frances McCollin's Sleep, Holy babe (December 1940[38] and December 1942),[39] and Verdi's Requiem (April 1943).
[43] She continued to perform with the POC, appearing as Violetta in La traviata (1940),[44] Micaëla in Carmen (1940),[45] Marie (Americanization of Mařenka) in The Bartered Bride (1940),[46] Mimì (1941),[47] and Lia in L'enfant prodigue (1941).
[49] On April 20, 1939 she was the soprano soloist in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Academy of Music; a performance recorded live for RCA Victor.
[53] The following October she joined the voice faculty of the Granoff Music Studios on Chestnut St.[54] By 1942 Thorne was working as the resident soprano soloist at the First Baptist Church in Philadelphia.
[57] In July 1942 she gave a recital at the Young People's Temple in Ocean Grove, New Jersey with tenor Fritz Krueger.
[58] On December 27, 1942 she performed the world premiere of Lazare Saminsky's Rye Septet at a concert presented by the League of Composers in New York.
[66] In December 1944 Thorne Stevenson was the soprano soloist in Ernest Bloch's symphony Israel with the New York Philharmonic under conductor Artur Rodziński;[67] a performance which was broadcast on American radio.
[79] In May 1945 Thorne Stephenson starred in a concert version of Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser with the Chattanooga Civic Opera in Tennessee.
[91] In 1959 she performed the title role in Vincenzo Bellini's Norma with the Arkansas State Opera in Little Rock with Lili Chookasian as Adalgisa.