Preston was born in Glendale, California and trained at the Meglin Dance Studio in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.

[18] In the summer of 1952 she toured with a company led by Argentine opera impresario Gregorio Ravic, which included Nicola Moscona, Jean Madeira, and Graciela Rivera, for four weeks of performances in cities in Colombia.

[19] [n 1] Preston sang the role of Mimi in La bohème opposite the tenor Walter Fredericks as Rodolfo.

[22] Beginning a tour through the Caribbean in early 1954, she conducted a series of performances in February of that year starting in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

[27] She gave a recital on November 30, 1962, in Barcelona at the Palau de la Música Catalana[28][29] and a subsequent performance in Tarragona on December 3, 1962.