Judith Blegen is an opera singer who grew up in Missoula, Montana and became a star on some of the biggest stages in the world. She was born on April 27, 1941 (some sources say in Kentucky), but her family moved to Missoula when she was a baby, and she went to Missoula County High School.

As a teenager, Judith sang soprano in her church choir and started formal voice lessons around age 14 with John L. Lester, who taught singing at the University of Montana. By her senior year of high school she was already taking music classes at the university in Missoula, showing how serious she was about her talent.

After high school, Blegen studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and later in Italy, and she began to sing in opera houses in Europe in the 1960s. She performed important roles in cities like Nuremberg and Vienna before returning to the United States.

Judith Blegen made her debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera on January 19, 1970, singing Papagena in Mozart's "The Magic Flute," and went on to sing more than 200 performances there in 19 different roles. She became known for her bright, light voice and for roles in operas by Mozart, Beethoven, and other composers, and she also sang on well-known recordings such as Handel's "Messiah" and Fauré's "Requiem."

Because of her success, Blegen was honored in her home state as well as around the world. In 1983 she received the Montana Governor's Arts Award, recognizing her as one of Montana's leading artists. She later retired from the stage in the early 1990s but is still remembered in Missoula and across Montana as a student who turned local music lessons into an international singing career.