According to a news report, last October, Grammy Award-winning opera singer Sylvia McNair had a mammogram that did not indicate the presence of breast cancer. However, within less than a year, McNair went on to be diagnosed with breast cancer, and is currently recovering from a radical mastectomy and chemotherapy.

With more chemotherapy ahead of her, and a new position as a voice instructor at Indiana University, she stated, ""My future is going to be a hybrid combination of teaching and continuing to sing concerts and productions of musical theater pieces. But obviously, my near future is going to involve winning over cancer, which will happen. If cancer has taught me one thing, it's that life is a puzzle with many pieces, and cancer is one of the pieces of life."

McNair, who performed for Pope John Paul II and has sung at the U.S. Supreme Court, won two Grammy Awards - in 1994 for Handel's Semele and in 1996 for The Echoing Air: The Music of Henry Purcell.

In 2002, Sylvia McNair acted as the evening's narrator for Sing for the Cure in a tribute to Kenda Webb, who lost her battle with cancer the year before after serving as co-honorary chairperson for the Sing for the Cure event. Accompanied by Charles Webb on piano, McNair performed a selection of American Songs from Broadway and Bernstein. Slyvia McNair is considered one of the world's greatest living sopranos.