Alfreda (Rose) Hodgson, received her musical training at the Northern School of Music in Manchester. The date of her concert debut is disputed between 1961 (Who's Who) and 1964 (Baker's). She worked with many important conductors, including Simon Rattle and Seiji Ozawa, and sang the Alto role in the first performance of Messiah in the state of Israel. Hodgson made her operatic debut as Ulrica with the English National Opera in 1974.