Born in
Bielefeld, Vermillion studied flute and voice at the
Hochschule für Musik Detmold and the
Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg with Mechthild Böhme and
Judith Beckmann. She took master classes with
Erik Werba,
Christa Ludwig and
Hermann Prey. She worked first at the
Staatstheater Braunschweig and was engaged from 1988 at the
Deutsche Oper Berlin by
Götz Friedrich. She was known internationally by performances of Mozart parts with
Nikolaus Harnoncourt in Amsterdam, Dorabella in
Così fan tutte and Cherubino in
Le nozze di Figaro. Another internationally noted performance was the part of Clairon in the 1991
Salzburg Festival production of
Capriccio by
Richard Strauss, conducted by
Horst Stein. In 1997, she appeared as Selim in the first revival in modern times of Hasse's
Solimano at the
Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, in a production staged by
Georg Quander and conducted by
René Jacobs, with
Thomas Randle in the title role. Vermillion also collaborated with
Claudio Abbado,
Daniel Barenboim and
Giuseppe Sinopoli. She was awarded the prize
Der Faust for her performance in the title role of Othmar Schoeck's
Penthesilea at the
Semperoper in 2008. In 2012, she performed the part of Klytämnestra in
Elektra by Strauss at the
Graz Opera, followed by the Nurse in his
Die Frau ohne Schatten at the
Teatro Colón and the Kostelnička Buryjovka in Janáček's
Jenůfa. Her recordings include operas such as Mozart's
Idomeneo and
Salome by Richard Strauss. In a 1995 recording of Carl Heinrich Graun's
Cesare e Cleopatra, with
René Jacobs conducting the
RIAS Kammerchor and the
Concerto Köln, she appears as Cesare, alongside
Janet Williams as Cleopatra),
Lynne Dawson as Cornelia,
Ralf Popken as Arsace,
Elisabeth Scholl as Cneo and
María Cristina Kiehr as Sesto. She recorded in 1996 the leading female role Bianca in Zemlinsky's
Eine florentinische Tragödie, alongside
Heinz Kruse as Guido and
Albert Dohmen as Simone, with
Riccardo Chailly conducting the
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. She participated in a 1997 recording of Wagner's
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg which was awarded the
Grammy 1998 as
Best Opera Recording.
Georg Solti conducted
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with
José van Dam as Sachs,
Karita Mattila as Eva,
Ben Heppner as Stolzing,
Herbert Lippert as David and her as Magdalene. In 2016 she was part of a complete recording of Wagner's
Der Ring des Nibelungen, conducted by
Marek Janowski, singing Fricka alongside
Tomasz Konieczny as Wotan, with the
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. In concert and recital, she recorded
Lieder by
Alma Mahler, Beethoven's
Missa solemnis and Mahler's
Das Lied von der Erde and his
Second Symphony. She recorded Mahler's symphony also in a version by Hermann Behn for two pianos, performed by soprano Daniela Bechly, pianists Christiane Behn and Mathias Weber, and the
Harvestehuder Kammerchor, conducted by
Claus Bantzer. She performed and recorded concerts with the
Gächinger Kantorei for the
Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, including in 2000
Wolfgang Rihm's
Deus passus, with
Juliane Banse,
Cornelia Kallisch,
Christoph Prégardien,
Andreas Schmidt and the
Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, conducted by
Helmuth Rilling, and in 2002 Beethoven's
Symphony No. 9 with
Camilla Nylund,
Jonas Kaufmann and
Franz-Josef Selig, conducted by
Roger Norrington. == Awards ==