Barbara Bonney is an American soprano, and was born in the spring of 1956 in Montclair, New Jersey. As a child she studied piano and cello, and at the age of 13 she became part of the Portland Youth Orchestra as a cellist. She studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and switched from cello to voice.
In 1979, Bonney joined the Darmstadt Opera. In the subsequent five years she made appearances throughout Germany and Europe, notably at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London and La Scala in Milan.
Bonney is widely recognized as one of the finest lyric sopranos of her generation. Along with her wide-ranging repertoire in opera, she is a distinguished recitalist in command of many languages. She appears on more than 90 recordings, including 15 solo recitals.

On August 1, 2006, IMG Artists announced that all forthcoming appearances by Bonney were cancelled due to personal reasons and that they would no longer be representing her