She was born in Corpus Christi Texas,

and studied at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi and with Paola Novikova in New York.

She debuted as a concert and Lieder singer in New York in 1958. In 1961, she became a member of the Opernstudio in Cologne and the Staatsoper Hannover. In Hanover, she met her husband, the choir master and conductor Klaus Donath. Their son Alexander is a stage and opera director. In 2000, all three were involved in Michigan Opera Theatre's production of Der Rosenkavalier.[1]

In 1967, she sang Pamina in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Salzburg Festival, which began a long association with the festival. From 1970 to 1990, she was a regular member of the Vienna State Opera.

She has performed all over the world including at the Vienna State Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Salzburg Festival, Covent Garden, La Scala, Barcelona, Paris, Florence, Tokyo, Berlin, Munich.

In 2006, she had performances as Despina in Così fan tutte at the Vienna State Opera, Salzburg Festival and other places.

Donath performed works of Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Schumann, Richard Strauss, and has worked and recorded under Karl Richter, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Rafael Kubelík, Antal Doráti, Leonard Bernstein, Georg Solti, Giuseppe Patanè, Daniel Barenboim, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Neville Marriner, Helmuth Rilling, Colin Davis, Eugen Jochum, Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Eliahu Inbal and Herbert von Karajan.

She was awarded in 2005 the Verdienstkreuz I. Klasse des Niedersächsischen Verdienstordens (Order of Merit 1st Class of Lower Saxony), in 1990 the Niedersächsischer Staatspreis (State Prize of Lower Saxony) and made Kammersänger of Bavaria.

 

 

Klaus Donath began his career as a conductor at the Lower Saxony State Theater in Hanover and as an assistant to Wolfgang Sawallisch and Karl Böhm at the Salzburg Festival.
Only a little later he became first conductor at the Staatstheater Darmstadt and professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hanover. He was permanent guest conductor of the Filarmonica Banatul Timisoara,
from 1991 to 1997 music director of the Bath City Orchestra and from 1991 to 1995 of the Bath and Wessex Opera, where he was primarily known for his interpretations of »La Bohème«, and »Dido und Aeneas«, 
»La Traviata« and »Don Giovanni« was appreciated. As a Mozart specialist, Klaus Donath also enjoyed great success in North America, including with »Don Giovanni«, »Le nozze di Figaro«, »The Magic Flute« and 
»Der Rosenkavalier«, at houses such as the Dayton Opera, the Michigan Opera Theatre, the Opera Pacific, the Seattle Opera and the Cincinnati Opera. In addition, Klaus Donath has worked with the 
Pacific Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony, conducted productions of »Der Rosenkavalier« at the Portland Opera and the Detroit Opera, »The Flying Dutchman« at the Opera Colorado as well as 
»La Traviata« and »Così fan tutte« at the Florida Grand Opera. With his wife Helen Donath, the pianist and conductor gave concerts and recitals all over the world.
In 2005, Klaus Donath received the "Cross of Merit, 1st Class" of the Lower Saxony Order of Merit.
For several years, Klaus Donath has been teaching singing in highly acclaimed master classes together with his wife Helen Donath in Switzerland, Finland, Salzburg and Sachrang in Chiemgau.