Soprano Erie Mills has died at the age of 73.

Mills was born in Granite City, Illinois and graduated from the College of Wooster (Ohio) and the University of Illinois.

Mills began her career at the Houston Grand Opera Studio artist where she trained from 1977 to 1979. She made her Houston debut during the 1978–79 season as Zdenka in Richard Strauss’s “Arabella.”

She would have career that spanned 25 years in which she performed at the major opera houses in the world including the Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera, New York City Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, and Hamburg State Opera. Her roles included the title role of “Lucia di Lammermoor,” Zerbinetta in Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos,” Rosina in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Cunegonde in “Candide,” Giunia in Mozart’s Lucio Silla.

Mills was also a well-known professor of music at San Jose State University from 1998-2008, and maintains a private studio devoted to the vocal training of young professionals.