On Sept. 21 2025, American soprano Doris Jung Popper died at the age of 101.

Born on Jan. 5, 1924, in Centralia, Illinois, Popper began her vocal studies at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and later studied at the Mannes College of Music and the Henry Street Settlement Music School in New York.

She went on to earn a Fulbright scholarship to the Vienna State Academy of Music and Performing Arts.

The soprano launched her European career with a debut as Vitellia in Mozart’s  “La clemenza di Tito” at the Opernhaus Zürich in 1955, and went on to become a prinipcal artist at the such theaters as Theater Freiburg, Staatsoper Hamburg, and Bayerische Staatsoper. She also went on to perform at the Wiener Staatsoper, Royal Danish Opera, Teatro di San Carlo, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Oper Köln, Staatstheater Nürnberg, among many others.

In 1960, Popper made her US debut at the New York City Opera as Fiordiligi in “Così fan tutte,” and went on to perform several roles with the company including the Countess, Ariadne, the Marschallin, and Puccini’s “Suor Angelica.”

Her repertoire was extensive, including over 80 Leonore in “Fidelio,” Elisabeth in “Tannhäuser,” Senta in “Der Fliegende Holländer,” Sieglinde in “Die Walküre,” Donna Anna in “Don Giovanni,” Marschallin in “Der Rosenkavalier” and Ariadne in “Ariadne auf Naxos.”

In 1969, he returned to the U.S. and became an influential vocal teacher.