US soprano Nadine Sierra makes her mark

NEW YORK - She made history of sorts at age 20 by becoming the youngest singer ever to win the Metropolitan Opera's vocal competition. Now, at the age of 29, Nadine Sierra is on the brink of stardom.

It's been a dizzying rise for the Florida-born soprano, who started voice lessons at age 6, began performing in opera as a teen and made her Met debut as Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto in 2015.

Return engagements have followed at the Met, including a Live in HD broadcast of Mozart's Idomeneo and an upcoming run as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro. She's in demand in Venice, Milan, Paris and Berlin, and she is featured in a recording of Rigoletto starring Dmitri Hvorostovsky that was released shortly before the Russian baritone's death.