Born Scotland, Denise trained at Glasgow University, graduating with an MA in drama and English literature. Upon leaving university, she co-formed a theatre company which performed regularly in and around Glasgow and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She also started singing lessons which very quickly led to a change of career when she auditioned for, and won a place at, the Royal College of Music in London.

Denise trained for 5 years under the tuition of renowned mezzo-soprano Margaret Kingsley and graduated from the RCM Opera School with the highest award, the President’s Gold medal. While at college, Denise was sponsored by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and performed many times at Buckingham Palace and Clarence House.

The following 7 years saw Denise work for all the major opera companies in the UK and for several in Germany and Austria. She was company principal for Glyndebourne Festival and Touring Opera (and was also the recipient of the prestigious Esso award for most outstanding newcomer); for Covent Garden , Opera North, English National, Welsh National and Scottish National Opera companies. During this time she also placed second in the world-wide Belvedere Opera competition, winning a contract at the Vienna Volksoper. She recorded a variety of cds for Chandos, Channel 4 and the BBC and worked with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Simon Rattle and Bernard Haitink.