Judith Blegen: key obituary facts
Is Judith Blegen dead? Yes. Judith Blegen died on October 23, 2026, at age 85.
Cause of death: Judith Blegen's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Judith Blegen known for?
She was an American soprano.
More about Judith Blegen
Born: 27 April 1941.
Place of birth: Lexington.
Gender: female.
Occupation: opera singer.
Nationality: United States.
Education: Curtis Institute of Music.
Judith Blegen, an American soprano associated with light lyric roles in French, Italian and German repertories, died October 23, 2026, aged 85.
Born in Lexington on April 27, 1941, Blegen was raised in Missoula, Montana, where she attended high school with her sister Barbara. During those years, she began voice lessons with John L.
Lester, head of the University of Montana’s voice department. She initially studied violin with Toshiya Eto, then continued her vocal education at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music, studying with Eufemia Giannini-Gregory. Blegen made her Vienna State Opera debut in January 1969, singing Olympia in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann. Later that year, she appeared at the Santa Fe Opera as Emily in the premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti’s Help, Help, the Globolinks! The part required her both to sing and play the violin, bringing her instrumental skill into the performance. On January 19, 1970, she made her New York Metropolitan Opera debut as Papagena in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. These early roles reflected the range of her operatic work, from French and Italian repertory to Mozart, and followed a path from voice lessons in Montana to formal study in Philadelphia and appearances in Vienna, Santa Fe and New York.