She was born in
Springvale, Victoria, the elder daughter of Harry Britton Elms and Jean (née Halford) and trained with Katherine Wielaert in
Melbourne. She first sang with the National Theatre Opera Company in 1952 in
The Consul. She had further study in Paris with Dominique Modesti. She toured
Israel in 1958 for the 10th anniversary of the State of Israel, appearing with the
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, in nine performances of
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony conducted by
Rafael Kubelík. In 1958 she married Graeme de Graaff, and they have one daughter, In 1965, she sang with the
Sutherland–
Williamson Opera Company and then with the
Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust and the
Australian Opera from 1966 to 1987. She was much praised for her Arsace in
Semiramide in 1965, Azucena (Verdi's
Il trovatore) opposite
Donald Smith and
Elizabeth Fretwell and later with Kenneth Collins and Joan Sutherland in the
Moshinsky/Nolan production. Between 1958 and 1973 she sang in five Royal Command performances. In 1970 she sang in
Verdi's Requiem with an all-Australian cast of soloists, at the
Royal Festival Hall, London, conducted by
Charles Mackerras, marking the 200th anniversary of
James Cook's charting of the east coast of Australia. In 1973 she sang at the openings of the
Adelaide Festival Theatre and the
Sydney Opera House, and she appeared in the inaugural opera season at the latter venue in all three parts of
Puccini's
Il trittico. That year she also appeared as a soloist in
Hector Berlioz's ''
Les nuits d'été (Summer Nights'') and lieder recitals in
Korea. She performed with
Marilyn Richardson in
Ian Cugley's
The Six Days of Creation, which was written for their voices. Her 1979 solo recital at the Opera House was the first ABC recital to feature a resident Australian singer. She gave recitals in China in 1983. In 1987, Elms commissioned a song cycle from composer Derek Strachan. He produced
Rose of the Bay, a
cycle of nine songs for
mezzo-soprano, clarinet and piano. It was premiered by Elms, Deborah de Graaff, and David Miller, and they went on to make the premiere recording. Elms retired in 1994. In 2001 she published her autobiography
The Singing Elms: The Autobiography of Lauris Elms. ==Honours==