Dorothy Kirsten

She left high school at age 16 and worked for the Singer Corporation sewing machine company and for New Jersey Bell, studying voice in her spare time.

[citation needed] Kirsten joined the roster of principal sopranos at the Philadelphia La Scala Opera Company (PLSOC) in 1943 and spent much of her time performing there through 1947.

She made her debut with the company in an out-of-town performance at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh on May 18, 1943 as Mimì in Giacomo Puccini's La bohème with Nino Martini as Rodolfo, Carlo Morelli as Marcello, and Armand Balendonck conducting.

[citation needed] In the 1943–1944 PLSOC season at the Academy of Music she portrayed Mimì many times and sang Nedda in Pagliacci with Giovanni Martinelli as Canio.

[citation needed] Kirsten debuted at the Metropolitan Opera with the role of Mimi in La bohème on December 1, 1945, and continued to sing with the Met for the next thirty years.

In addition to her operatic activities, she sang on radio with Frank Sinatra (co-starring with him in Light-Up Time[3]), Bing Crosby, Nelson Eddy, Jack Benny, Gordon MacRae, and Perry Como.