Born in
Los Angeles, Gayer is of
Finno-Ugric and
native American ancestry. She studied voice, violin, and musicology in Los Angeles and moved to Germany on a
Fulbright scholarship in the 1950s, studying at the
Hochschule der Künste in Berlin with
Irma Beilke. She is also a trained ballet dancer. On 13 April 1961, she performed the female lead role (Die Gefährtin) in the premiere of Luigi Nono's
Intolleranza 1960 at
La Fenice in Venice, and was afterwards engaged by
Rudolf Sellner as a member of the ensemble of the
Deutsche Oper Berlin. She appeared in Europe in classical repertory, and especially in contemporary opera, in roles such as Hilde Mack in Henze's
Elegie für junge Liebende and Marie in Bernd Alois Zimmermann's
Die Soldaten, staged by
Hans Neuenfels. Several composers wrote roles for her voice, including
Aribert Reimann, who wrote
Melusine for her. She took part in several premieres of new operas. On 24 April 1963, she performed in the first scenic production of
Darius Milhaud's trilogy ''
L'Orestie d'Eschyle'', which was also the premiere of its third part, at the
Deutsche Oper Berlin. On 25 September 1965, she appeared in the premiere of
Isang Yun's
Der Traum des Liu-Tung at the
Akademie der Künste in Berlin, conducted by Ulrich Weder, with
Barry McDaniel in the title role. On 29 September 1968, she performed in Luigi Dallapiccola's
Ulisse at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, conducted by
Lorin Maazel. On 19 April 1971, she sang the title role in Reimann's
Melusine at the
Schwetzingen Festival, conducted by
Reinhard Peters. On 26 July 1976, she appeared in
Josef Tal's
Die Versuchung (
The Temptation) at the
Bavarian State Opera, conducted by
Gary Bertini. She also sang roles in the classical repertory, including Monteverdi's ''
L'incoronazione di Poppea''. She appeared as Berg's
Lulu at several opera houses. Gayer has also been interested in popular music () and
jazz. As a teacher at the
Folkwang-Hochschule, she has taught musical theatre, along with traditional subjects. She was married to ; they have two sons, the physicist David Ashkenasi and the composer and actor . She retired from the opera with a recital at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, after 41 years at the house. == Audio play ==