She was born in Boston and began her studies with her father, John Sant'Ambrogio, principal cellist with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Her career began when she won the bronze medal at the 1986 International Tchaikovsky Violoncello Competition in Moscow and was invited to play at Carnegie Hall.
Since then she has appeared as a soloist with the Atlanta, Boston Pops, Chicago, Dallas, Moscow State Philharmonic, Century Orchestra Osaka, St. Louis, San Francisco, Vienna Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and Seattle orchestras, in addition to touring and recording 9 CDs with the Eroica Trio on EMI and 4 solo CDs for Sebastian Records.
She has performed at many festivals including Aspen, Marlboro, Ravinia, Great Mountain, Mostly Mozart and Hollywood Bowl and was featured in 7 sold out concerts of the Bach Cello Suites with the New York City Ballet.
Triple Concertos with bandoneon by Emilio Kauderer and Daniel Binelli Trios by Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Kevin Puts and Zhou Tian.