After her triumph in "Lucia di Lammermoor" at Covent Garden in 1959, Joan Sutherland established 
herself as the foremost soprano of our age and as one of the greatest operatic artists of all time.
She was instrumental in reviving operas of Handel as well as being a great exponent of those of Mozart,
Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Gounod, Thomas, Massenet and Verdi. She has sung in most of the major 
opera houses of the world and had one of the most prolific and distinguished recording careers in the 
history of the gramophone.
Dame Joan has received Honorary Degrees from universities and eminent music schools in Australia, 
Europe and America. She was honoured as a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1975, in 1979 
was made Dame Commander of the British Empire and later awarded the Order of Merit by her 
Majesty the Queen, also l'Ordre National du Mérite by the French Government for her services to music.
Since retiring she has been much in demand on the adjudicating panel of many important international 
vocal contests and has spent part of her time writing her autobiography A Prima Donna's Progress, 
which has now been published in Britain, Australia and the United States.



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