Swenson made her San Francisco Opera debut in 1983, as Despina in Mozart's Così fan tutte.
Roles she has played include Liù in Turandot, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, the Four Heroines in The Tales of Hoffmann, Elvira in I Puritani, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Gilda in Rigoletto (49 performances at the Met alone), Juliette in Roméo et Juliette and Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Violetta in La traviata, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Adina in L'elisir d'amore, Marguerite in Faust, the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, and Rodelinda in Rodelinda.
Swenson received an honorary doctorate degree in April 2006 from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she has taught master classes.
[3] However, Swenson was unhappy with Metropolitan's General Manager Peter Gelb's apparent decision not to use her as much as his predecessor Joseph Volpe had.
In June 2008 she sang Ginevra in Handel's Ariodante opposite mezzo Susan Graham at the San Francisco Opera, a production that marked Swenson's 25th anniversary with the company.
On July 6, 2008, Swenson was awarded the San Francisco Opera Medal, the company's highest artistic honor.