Aprile Millo Special Verdi Prize Award in Barcelona (1979), and the Geraldine Farrar Award (1980). After leaving the San Diego Opera, Millo sang her first major role, the title role of Verdi's "Aida", with Utah Opera in January 1980. She returned to Utah Opera in early 1981 to perform the role of Santuzza in Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana". Millo moved to New York City and auditioned for the New York City Opera where her Father had sung from 1942–1946 and was offered a contract with several roles. The Metropolitan Opera also offered the young singer at 22 years old, to become a member
Cavalleria rusticana in Chicago on 30 September 1891. The opera premiered in New York on 1 October 1891, with two rival performances on the same day: an afternoon performance at the Casino, directed by Rudolph Aronson, and an evening performance at the Lenox Lyceum, directed by Oscar Hammerstein. The opera received its first performance at the Metropolitan Opera on 30 December 1891 in a double bill with a fragment of Gluck's "Orfeo ed Euridice", and has since received over 700 performances there. Before the action takes place, the young villager Turiddu had returned from military service to find that his fiancée Lola