Beverly Bower

Bower's family further fostered her musical talent by enrolling her in piano and voice lessons at the age of seven with Olean native Henry Hill.

During this time she also studied foreign languages, drama, and opera at the University of Pennsylvania and was mentored by famed soprano Helen Jepson who bequeathed many of her costumes to Bower after her retirement from the stage.

[2] Bower began her professional career singing on radio and television during the 1950s, including making appearance with Jack Paar on The Tonight Show.

[9] In 1961 she made her debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company as Musetta with Nicoletta Panni as Mimì, Angelo Lo Forese as Rodolfo, and Benjamin Rayson as Marcello.

She made her debut with the company on February 22, 1965 as Ortlinde in Richard Wagner's Die Walküre with Birgit Nilsson as Brünnhilde, Jon Vickers as Siegmund, Leonie Rysanek as Sieglinde, George London as Wotan, and Irene Dalis as Fricka.

[13] She notably sang the role of Minnie in La Fanciulla del West for the first public performance at the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center on April 11, 1966.

[14] Bower joined Sarah Caldwell's American National Opera Company for their 1967-1968 tour where she sang Alice Ford in Verdi's Falstaff and the title role in Tosca with Tommy Rall as Cavaradossi and George Fourie as Scarpia.