Sally-Ann was born in Yorkshire and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, the National Opera Studio in London funded by the Peter Stuyvesant Foundation, and in Paris on a scholarship from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust.
She has appeared in opera and concert throughout the world, performing with Scottish Opera, Welsh National Opera, English Touring Opera, Garsington Opera, the D’Oyly Carte, Opera Factory London and Zürich, Pavilion Opera, European Chamber Opera, Mid Wales Opera, Castleward Opera, Opera Interludes, Diva Opera, Court Opera, Opera South East, First Act Opera, Caledonian Opera, Stowe Opera, Opera Northern Ireland and Dublin Grand Opera.
Her roles include: Drusilla (L’Incoronazione di Poppea), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Despina (Così fan Tutte), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Pamina and Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), Rosina and Berta (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Norina (Don Pasquale), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Adina (L’Elisir d’Amore), Madame Larina (Eugene Onegin), Emmy (Der Vampyr), Musetta (La Bohème), Lauretta and Nella (Gianni Schicchi), Fraquita and Micaëla (Carmen), Violetta (La Traviata), Adele and Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), Valencienne and Hanna Glawari (The Merry Widow), Countess Zedlau (Wiener Blut), The Plaintiff (Trial By Jury), Phyllis (Iolanthe) and Yum Yum (The Mikado).
Engagements have included tours as a guest artist with P&O Cruises, Saga and MSC line; concerts in Paris, London and the Channel Islands with special guest José Carreras; Frasquita (Carmen) at the Royal Albert Hall; Adele (Die Fledermaus) at the Tonhalle, Zürich; and performances as Clorinda (La Cenerentola), in the UK, Moscow, France, Tuscany, and at Teatro La Fenice in Venice. She appeared as Emmy in the BBC 2 version of Marschner’s Der Vampyr, entitled The Vampyr, A Soap Opera, updated to 1990s London.
Her many performances for Diva Opera, in both opera and concert, have taken her to a wide variety of venues throughout the UK and Europe. Other engagements include Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) for Riverside Opera, and Hanna Glawari (The Merry Widow) for Opera South East. Sally-Ann took part in two nationwide tours with Garden Opera, as Musetta (La Bohème) and Norina (Don Pasquale), including performances at the Cayman Islands Arts Festival. She recently appeared as Yum-Yum in The Mikado at the Bedford Park Festival in London, and at the Gatehouse Theatre in Highgate, both shows co-produced with her baritone colleague Trevor Alexander, for their company Classical Encounters.
Recent concerts include opera galas in Spain, Ireland and Wales; Christmas concerts at Lancaster Priory; a recital at Leeds Town Hall and appearances with the Spa Concert Orchestra in Scarborough; a cabaret season at Harvey’s Point Hotel in Donegal; An Evening in Vienna with Maidstone Choral Union and the Last Night of the Proms with Thanet Male Voice Choir. Other appearances include Vienna, City of Dreams at the Gatehouse Theatre in Highgate, and the Sir Arthur Sullivan Birthday Concert for the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of London with colleagues from Classical Encounters.