[2] Margaret Rizza was born in 1929 into a musical family, where her mother played piano and her father was the organist for his local parish church.
[4][5] During this time she sang at many of the leading venues for opera, working with conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten and Igor Stravinsky.
[5] She married George Rizza, who emigrated from Italy to Scotland with his family aged 11, and who managed Chester Music and Novello for nearly 40 years.
She also worked with the World Community for Christian Meditation, leading retreats, workshops on vocal and choral skills, and days of prayer and music.
This led to her developing a new style of writing, which she calls "classical contemporary", and the composition entitled Ave Generosa was released on CD, sung by The Sixteen and conducted by Christophers.