Brewer grew up in the
Mississippi River town of
Grand Tower, Illinois. She attended
McKendree University in
Lebanon, Illinois and concentrated on music education. She was a music teacher for several years before embarking on a professional music performing career. She began her career in
St. Louis, Missouri with the
Saint Louis Symphony Chorus. She auditioned in 1981 for the chorus of
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL), in the start of her career in opera. Her first OTSL work was in the chorus of ''
The Beggar's Opera in 1982. Her first major role with OTSL was as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes'' in 1990. In 1989, she participated in a masterclass with
Birgit Nilsson and was one of the 10 winners of the National Council auditions sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. While her daughter Elisabeth was in school during the academic year, Brewer deliberately limited her work in staged opera productions. and
Queen Elizabeth I (
Gloriana). She made her debut at the
San Francisco Opera in 2006 singing the title role in
Beethoven's
Fidelio and returned the following season singing the role of
Isolde in
Tristan und Isolde. Brewer is a regular featured singer at
The Proms and the
Wigmore Hall. In late March 2009, Brewer had to withdraw from the complete
Ring cycle at the Metropolitan Opera because of a knee injury. In August 2012, Ms Brewer sang the same program that her mentor
Birgit Nilsson sang at the opening of the Concert Hall at the
Sydney Opera House in
Sydney, Australia 40 years before. It was an all-Wagner program, three performances with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra playing and conducted by
Simone Young. In January 2013, Brewer created the role of Sister Aloysius in the world premiere of
Douglas Cuomo's opera
Doubt at the
Minnesota Opera.
BBC Music Magazine in April 2007 named her one of the top 20 sopranos of the 20th century. She continues to work with young students in the sixth-grade classroom at
Marissa, Illinois where she had formerly taught music, in an outreach program in conjunction with the
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. She currently lives in
Lebanon, Illinois, with her husband Ross Brewer, a retired social studies teacher. ==Recordings==