[1] She initially studied the visual arts, including painting and subsequently changed her academic focus and earned a bachelor's degree in musicology.

[2] She later studied music at the Paris Conservatoire, where her teachers included Rachel Yakar, and from which she graduated with a first prize in 1995.

[2] In various awards under the auspices of Victoires de la musique classique, she was named Best Young Talent in 1998 and as Best Opera Singer in 2001 and 2003.

In August 2010 she appeared at the Salzburg Festival in Vera Nemirova's production of Lulu with Marc Albrecht conducing the Vienna Philharmonic.

[6] Petibon has a son, Léonard, from her previous relationship with French composer Éric Tanguy [fr].