Blythe graduated from Monticello High School in 1987 and the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam in 1992. She was the recipient of the prestigious Richard Tucker Award in 1999. SUNY Potsdam awarded her the degree of Doctor of Music honoris causa in 2006. In 1996, Blythe's career was transformed, standing in for Marilyn Horne at the Metropolitan opera as Mistress Quickly in "Falstaff." Her breakthrough performance came three years later when she sang Cornelia in Handel's Giulio Cesare. Blythe starred in the world premiere of the opera The Sailor-Boy and the Falcon, performed by the Crane School of Music Opera Ensemble in November 2006. The opera was written by two SUNY Potsdam professors (music by Paul Siskind and libretto by Alan Steinberg) and was performed at the Crane School's Sara M. Snell Theater. The opera is based on The Sailor-Boy's Tale by Isak Dinesen. In the 2007/08 season at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Ms. Blythe has sung supporting roles in both Un Ballo in Maschera and Die Walkure. In each, she has stolen the show with ovations exceeding those given to the singers of the lead roles. In 2010, Blythe played Katisha in The Mikado at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The Chicago Sun-Times reviewer wrote, "Blythe explodes onto stage ... an enormous woman with enormous talent, a big, powerful voice and an elastic comic face" Chicago Classical Review added, "Blythe ... steals the entire show. ... It’s unlikely that this supporting role has ever been sung with this caliber of gleaming operatic voice. She ... threw off the rapid-fire patter duet "There is beauty in the bellow of the blast" with blazing speed and crystal-clear diction. Blythe also displayed a great comedian’s timing making every punch line register. And, for a woman of such imposing physique, she showed herself a graceful and light-footed presence with her little victorious dance steps."