Copley is a resident of Lindsborg, Kansas, a Swedish arts community and the home of Bethany College, where she received her training.
[3] Cropley made her New York concert debut in 1986 as the soprano soloist in Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B minor with the Musica Sacra chorus and conductor Richard Westenburg at Avery Fisher Hall.
[4] She performed with that ensemble again at the same venue as the soprano soloist in the world premiere of McNeil Robinson's Messe Solennelle (1987),[5] and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Coronation Mass (1988).
[7] Soon after, she performed excerpts from several operas in multiple concerts with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra; among them Tristan und Isolde (1987)[8] and Lohengrin (1988).
[13] She went on the sing the entire opera at the Met for the following October 7, 1992 performance with Richard Leech as Riccardo, Juan Pons as Renato, and Harolyn Blackwell as Oscar.