After first performing at a concert in the Christiania Theatre, Oslo, in 1871, she made her debut at the Royal Swedish Opera in 1876 as Mathilde in Rossini's William Tell.

On marrying the Danish diplomat Baron Emil Gyldenkrone [da] in 1882, she settled in Denmark where she became a voice teacher.

[2] Lona Gulowsen first appeared in public at a concert at the Christiania Theatre in 1871 but it was not until 1876 that she made a successful debut at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm as Mathilde in William Tell.

[2] In the autumn of the same year, she was engaged by the opera company of Norway's Christiania Theatre where she was recognized for her singing and stagecraft skills in roles including Susanne in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, Violetta in Verdi's La traviata, Leonora in his Il trovatore and Venus in Wagner's Tannhäuser.

[1][5] After the fire in the Christiania Theatre caused opera presentations to be discontinued, Gulowsen gave concerts in Norway and Sweden before returning to Paris in 1878 for further training under Viardot.