Her parents were both prominent voice teachers: her father, Arne Sunnegårdh, worked with Birgit Nilsson and Jussi Björling and was chorus master at the Royal Swedish Opera[1] and a professor at the Stockholm Conservatory, and her mother, Margareta Backer-Sunnegårdh, was a coloratura soprano.
from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, and worked as a waitress, caterer and tour guide in New York, singing at recitals and as a cantor.
[6] Having already signed a contract with the Metropolitan Opera in May 2004, she made her debut there at short notice at a Saturday matinee on April 1, 2006, singing the title role in Fidelio as a substitute for Karita Mattila.
She has also continued to give concert recitals, including of contemporary music such as Carl Unander-Scharin's The world as I see it, to texts by Albert Einstein, with the percussion ensemble Kroumata.
[1][6] Her first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera was greeted warmly by the audience and most of the press,[8][13] although writing for The New York Times, Anthony Tommasini found her hesitant, especially in Act One.