Born in Southport, Howells was a famed operatic mezzo soprano. After studying music at the Royal Manchester College, she embarked upon an international operatic career, singing at Glyndebourne, the Royal Opera House, the Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Her performance as Octavian in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier won critical plaudits as well as being immortalised in film by John Schlesinger in 1985, marking the 25th anniversary of Sir George Solti’s debut at Covent Garden. She also found a great deal of work in premiering contemporary works including Rolf Liebemann’s Foret, Nicholas Maw’s The Rising of the Moon and Richard Rodney Bennett’s Victory. After retiring from the stage, she worked as a teacher at the Royal Academy of Music. DA