It's no longer necessary for professional singers to live in New York. Most places will do if there's a decent air port.

Just ask Sylvia McNair, 51, who makes her home in a spacious brick condominium on what used to be a farm in.Bloomington. The knickknacks displayed in her living room -- masks from Venice, cookware from Japan -- 8attest to her wide-ranging travels. But after a 20-year 8career as an opera singer, the Mansfield, Ohio, native headed back to the Midwest at a time when she was also.coping with another major transition.

McNair was 49 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and was told that she might live only six more months. In 2006, she had a mastectomy to improve her odds. But she is well aware that she has "an aggressive form of cancer."

Meanwhile, McNair treasures life. She has developed a.passion for teaching at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she earned a master's degree in 1983. She also loves singing new repertoire -- and she loves her new home.

This is a beautiful condo. How long have you been here, and how was it getting readjusted to the Midwest?

When I moved here from New York, I had to buy a really pretty house so I wouldn't be depressed about leav ing New York. I've been here not even a year. The devel- oper began building here about five years ago. This was essentially a shell. I worked on the design with the builder.

Had you always wanted to be an opera singer?

I started studying the piano at age 3, and the violin at 7. My dream was to be a violinist in the Cleveland Orches- tra. When I changed my major, I don't think my mother ever forgave me.

How do you categorize your voice? Is it a lyric soprano?

When I was doing opera, they called me a light lyric. But I've never been one for boxes, and I'm not about to start now. When I perform, I some- times ask that they say "Sylvia McNair, vocalist."

Like a singer in a rock band?

I'm not in a rock band, but I probably should be.

I hear you've been recording at your undergraduate alma mater, Wheaton College.

We just made a Christmas CD. I did a concert there in September. I heard the Wheaton Concert Choir, and they sang so beautifully, they took my breath away. This Christmas album is mostly me, but the choir joined me on three tunes. It's due out in the fall.

What do you recall from your student days at IU?

One thing I love to tell people about my 361/27 years here was that so many doors and windows opened for me. I sang early music. I sang jazz. Mr. Shaw (choral director Robert Shaw) conducted (Bach's) B minor Mass.

My two voice teachers were Virginia MacWatt- ers, who was with New York City Opera in the 1940s and '50s, and Virginia Zeani (the leading 8female soloist at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome for.25 years). Miss Zeani was one of The Teachers here, with capital "T's." I also studied pop and jazz with Eileen Farrell (a famous Ameri- can opera and concert singer). What we studied was a lot of microphone technique.

How long were you ! a broadcaster at (Bloomington station) WFIU?

You mean announcer? Two years. I loved that job, because you didn't have to worry about a bad hair day.

You used to sing and record a lot of baroque opera. What kind of a voice do you need to sing early music or music from the classical era?

It probably takes a voice a little lighter than the voice it takes to sing Verdi and Puccini. But you also have to be willing to sing with the same in- tegrity that an instrument plays, to embroider your sound into the texture of the music. I often say about Mozart, there's no margin of error. You have to hit the sweet spot on the first try.

Were you sold on teaching when you got to IU, and how do you feel now?

The big hesitation for anyone joining a music school faculty is that the music business will write you off. They'll say, "She's not performing anymore. She's only teaching" -- as if you can only do one or the other. That's a very frightening thing for all of us. I only wanted to work with undergraduates, and except for one (doctoral) student, I do. I teach an opera workshop and English diction for singers. Do.you know what I was not prepared for? How quickly I would fall in love with students.

Why did you transition from opera to musical theater?

I had to make some major changes in my life, 8because I was getting tired. I had 20 years of opera singing under my belt by 2002. In the 1990s, I was on the road nine, 10, 11 months a year. Most of that was in Europe, so I was a long way from home. At the beginning, it all seemed very glamorous, but by the second decade, you realize you've been in the trenches.

What musical theater roles have you sung, and which would you still like to sing?

The role I had last July probably was one of the happiest moments of my work life. I sang Rosabella in "The Most Happy Fella." I would like to sing Mrs. Anna in "The King and I," and Desiree in "A Little Night Music."

What repertoire are you singing in cabaret shows?

The (one-woman cabaret) show I will take to New York (this fall) features Frank Loesser, Leonard Bern stein and Andre Previn. It's a dream of mine to re8 cord some of Andre's songs.

How is it, being a singer over 50?

I love being 51. My knees don't work as well, but my brain is working 100 times better. After 49 years of amazingly good health, my cancer diagnosis two years ago was a huge shock, but I've decided that cancer has been the best thing that ever happened to me.

How do you mean?

After I realized I was in close proximity to death, I gained a clarity about life.

I have a really aggressive form of cancer. I know what my statistics are. ..... I'm still in treatment, but I'm prepared to say cancer is one of the best things that ever happened to me. There's no point in saving the good china, as Erma Bombeck said. I have more meals out. I spend more time with friends. I don't look at the little stuff and sweat it.