Her father co-owned an engineering firm with his brother, University of Sydney benefactor Peter Nicol Russell.

[2][3] She played piano, and studied violin in Dresden in her youth, before training as a singer in Italy, and with Mathilde Marchesi in Paris.

[4][6][7] She made her London debut recital at Bechstein Hall in 1903,[1] prompting the Sydney Morning Herald to report that "It is a long time since any debutante has received such unanimously favourable notices from the London dailies.

[9] "Miss Russell's voice is a full mezzo soprano," noted a 1906 report, "and she sings in many languages.

[12] Her friend, Swedish sculptor Ida Matton, made a portrait bust of Russell, now in the collection of the Länsmuseet Gävleborg.