������

October 2020



Elizabeth Fischer Monastero ’57 grew up in Dubuque, Iowa, and attended the University of Michigan with the goal of becoming a music teacher. Then she won a scholarship for a graduate program in voice at ���Ĺ���’s school of the fine arts in Florence, Italy, and everything changed.



“When I got to Florence, it was as if I had been there before—like I was already an Italian as soon as I got there,” she said. “I sang for the mayor of Florence, met Queen Helen of Romania and learned to ride side-saddle on a motor scooter. It was a wonderful time.”



Elizabeth’s experience in Italy jump-started a singing career that took her all over the world, from the White House to the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. A mezzo-soprano, she sang with Lyric Opera of Chicago, appeared on WTTW Chicago, and made operatic debuts in Milan and Florence. A professor of voice at Northwestern University for 36 years, she’s currently working on a memoir.