 Her parents used their modest income to provide Blanche with singing lessons in New York even before she entered high school (1901–03).Her vocal talent attracted the admiration of composer and singer Harry Burleigh, and she won a scholarship at age 15 to study voice and ballet at the Metropolitan Opera School (1903–05).She appeared in an amateur Czech-language production of Michael William Balfe's "The Bohemian Girl" and made her Metropolitan Opera stage debut in the Christmas 1903 production of Wagner's "Parsifal" - the first staged performance of the opera outside of Bayreuth - appearing as a flower girl and as the Grail-bearer.