A Life in Song: Elizabeth Fischer Monastero ’57

Photo courtesy of Lincolnwood Public Library

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 Dominican’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.



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