[3] She began her studies with Greek mezzo-soprano Elena Nikolaidi at Florida State University.
She was the 1983 winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
She began her career as a mezzo-soprano and switched to soprano in the mid 1990s.
She created the role of the stepmother in Robert Moran's and Philip Glass' The Juniper Tree and reprised the role in its New York City debut April 2007 at Lincoln Center.
She frequently performs the role of Nedda in I Pagliacci as well as all of the Puccini heroines.