Barbara Bonney is an American soprano. She was born in Montclair, New Jersey and studied with Walter Raninger in Canada. In 1979, she joined the Darmstadt Opera, where she made her debut as Anna in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor. In the subsequent five years she made appearances throughout Germany and at Covent Garden and La Scala. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1988 in Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos. She is widely recognized as one of the great lyric sopranos, and she also appears in concert. She has recorded widely with many of the leading conductors.f the leading conductors.