In 1989, she participated in a masterclass with Birgit Nilsson and was one of the 10 winners of the National Council auditions sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera.
While her daughter Elisabeth was in school during the academic year, Brewer deliberately limited her work in staged opera productions.
Brewer is most famous for her interpretations of roles by Wagner, Strauss and Britten including Isolde, Ariadne, Färberin (Die Frau ohne Schatten), Ellen Orford (Peter Grimes)[2] and Queen Elizabeth I (Gloriana).
[4] In late March 2009, Brewer had to withdraw from the complete Ring Cycle at the Metropolitan Opera because of a knee injury.
[5] She continues to work with young students in the sixth-grade classroom at Marissa, Illinois where she had formerly taught music, in an outreach program in conjunction with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.