My dream since I was a child was to perform on Broadway, but as life gives you twists and turns, I studied with classically trained teachers and moved in the direction of a classical singer. But as a mezzo-soprano, I was given the opportunity to perform many character roles which developed my acting skills such as Carmen, Marcelina, Marthe in Faust, Madame Larine in Eugene Onegin, and the Mother in Hansel and Gretel. I was lucky enough to sing alongside many famous Opera Singers from the Metropolitan Opera such as Jerome Hines, Benita Valente, Rosalind Elias, and Patricia Wells, to name a few.
Slowly, I moved into the oratorio world where I sang the alto solos in over 50 works, including Handel’s Messiah, where I performed at Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
I was given the opportunity to sing the world premiere of many operas including the leading role of Fanny in Elie Wiesenthal’s Angel Levine and the First Operator in the world premiere opera Sorry Wrong Number by Jack Beeson, with the Center for Contemporary Opera which was made into a CD.
Wanting to make a creative CD of my own, I came up with the idea of Uptown, Downtown on Studio 21 label, which features blues and jazz-inspired songs that are written by contemporary American Composers: William Bolcom, John Musto, Jack Gottlieb, and Lou Rodgers.
My first college teaching position was at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York. Many of my students were very talented; however, there were a few where I noticed sounds that where not healthy. Since I was on the Board of New York Singing Teacher’s Association (NYSTA), I had an introduction to Dr. Anat Keidar and Dr. Linda Carroll and was able to do vocology internships with both of these Speech Pathologists at St. Luke’s Hospital and Mt. Sinai Hospital. There, I learned how to aid my voice students toward healthy singing.
