sentences:  In her senior year she won first prize in the auditions for the Merola Opera Program, the training arm of the San Francisco Opera.Her first opera performance was at a community college in Fort Worth, Texas in the title role in Carlisle Floyd's "Susannah".After graduating from college, Racette made her professional opera debut in 1988 in Giacomo Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" with the San Francisco Western Opera Theater and traveled with the company for performances in New York City.