Soprano Dawn Upshaw was born July 17, 1960; she first rose to prominence in 1984 after winning the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and was soon invited to join the studio of the Metropolitan Opera. Upshaw's Met exposure quickly allowed her to assume roles, including Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and both Susanna and Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro; in 1986 she made her Salzburg Festival debut in Figaro, returning there often in the years to follow for acclaimed performances in St François d'Assise and The Rake's Progress. 　　Dawn Upshaw was born in Nashville, Tennessee. She began singing while attending Rich East High School in Park Forest, Illinois and was the only female ever promoted to the top choir (the Singing Rockets) as a sophomore, according to choir director Douglas Ulreich. She received a B.A. in 1982 from Illinois Wesleyan University, where she studied voice with the late Dr. David Nott. She went on to study voice with Ellen Faull at th