Joyce Arleen Auger (September 13, 1939 – June 10, 1993) was an American soprano, admired for her coloratura voice and interpretations of works by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Monteverdi, Gluck, and Mozart. From a conservative and Catholic family, Auger was born in South Gate, California and lived for many years in Europe in Vienna and Frankfurt, finally returning to the U.S. | Great Opera Singers

Roberta Peters (May 4, 1930 – January 18, 2017) was an American coloratura soprano. One of the most prominent American singers to achieve lasting fame and success in opera, Peters is noted for her 35-year association with the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York, among the longest such associations between a singer and a company in opera. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1998. Peters was born Roberta Peterman in The Bronx, New York City, the only child of Ruth (née Hersch), a mill