Lewek began playing piano and singing at a very young age but only during high school realized that she could turn it into a career.
[3] In 2009, she became a fellow at the Music Academy of the West in Montecito, California where she continued her coloratura soprano studies with Marilyn Horne.
During those years, she also performed both Mozart's and Verdi's Requiems, as well as Mass in B minor and Christmas Oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach.
[4] In 2013, regarding her Carnegie Hall début in Händel's Messiah, Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim of The New York Times praised her “Communicative verve and thrilling beauty.” She also commented on her rendition of “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion,” especially the tempo and embellishment choices, describing ‘He shall speak peace’ as “lovingly ornamenting the cadence in a way that was both original and entirely subservient to the music.”[5] She was advised not to sing the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, yet Lewek has performed the role hundreds of times in the finest opera houses in Europe and the United States,[3] holding the record for most performances in the role at the Metropolitan Opera.
[4] The same year, she was scheduled to perform Cunegonde in Leonard Bernstein's Candide with Washington National Opera but pulled out due to pregnancy and was replaced by Emily Pogorelc.