Dorothy Dorow has passed away at the age of 86.

The English soprano died on April 15 after a lengthy career mastering the works of contemporary music. The soprano debuted in London in 1958 and went on to sing numerous world premiered, including works from György Ligeti, Hans Werner Henze, Luigi Dallapiccola, Sylvano Bussotti and Luigi Nono. Throughout her career was also notable for performing works by Igor Stravinsky and performed internationally with the Kraków Philharmonic.

The soprano was also known for her flexibility in her voice as she was able to extend it to extremes from the high coloratura to the low mezzo range and had a keen ability at reading some of the most complex musical scores in the repertoire.

She moved to Amsterdam in 1977 and was appointed to a professorship at Maastricht University. She retired in 1986 and later moved to Duloe, a small village in Cornwall, UK.

Dorow made a number of recordings including Fartein Valen’s Symphonic Poems & Orchestral Songs, Schoenberg’s Cabaret Songs, Berg Lieder and Webern’s Seven Early Songs. She also recorded an album entitled Contemporary Music for Soprano and Cello and also recorded Anton Webern’s Complete Vocal Chamber Works Anton Webern, Koch Schwann. She also recorded the works of Britten, Holst, Bliss and Bax.