From 1965 to 1974, she was a member of the Bach Aria Group and made many tours of the United States and Canada with that group. Her solo recital tours took her around the world and, ever a staunch supporter of Canadian composers, she regularly included their songs on her programs. The most important of the works she championed was Fleming's The Confession Stone. Although her orchestral repertoire ranged from Bach and Pergolesi to Elgar and Casals, it was as an interpreter of Mahler that Forrester is best remembered, most especially for the Second Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde. Maureen Forrester's voice was a dark, rich contralto, but with an ease in the upper register which allowed her to sing some mezzo-soprano parts including the Verdi Requiem and Brangäne in Wagner's Tristan and Isolde. Although possessing a large voice, it was very flexible and created a demand for her in the oratorios of Bach and Handel, as well as other Baroque composers, which she sang all over the world. In the '60s and '70s, she averaged around 120 performances a year -- all while raising five children.
Forrester enjoyed teaching, and from 1966 until 1971, she headed the voice department at the Philadelphia Academy of Music. After leaving the Academy of Music, she continued to teach privately in Toronto and to give master classes in conjunction with her recitals. In 1983, she began a five-year term as chairman of the Canada Council for the Arts. She published her autobiography, Out of Character, in 1986, the same year she was named a Companion of the Order of Canada. Maureen Forrester remained one of the great contraltos of the 20th century throughout her long performing career. ~ Richard LeSueur, Rovi