Serafin. Callas had heard Elkins in rehearsal and chose her to sing Alisa for the EMI recording. Elkins partnership with Sutherland also resulted in a number of studio recordings of complete operas led by Richard Bonynge for Decca Records. She also joined Sutherland and Bonynge's 1965 tour of Australia with the Sutherland-Williamson Opera Company. In November 1964, Elkins appeared alongside Noël Coward, Dame Margot Fonteyn and others in a 90th birthday tribute to Sir Winston Churchill. It was around this time that she declined an offer to appear at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as she did not like the part she was offered. She had earlier refused an offer to sing at Glyndebourne, for contractual reasons. However, Elkins did make appearances at the Teatro di San Carlo, the Teatro Carlo Felice, the Liceu, the Opera Company of Boston and the New Orleans Opera during the 1960s. She also sang two roles with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company, Siébel in 1965 and Adalgisa in 1968, both with Sutherland. Later life and career: 1970–2009 After the birth of her daughter Emma in 1970, Elkins decided to limit significantly her performances outside Australia and spent most her remaining career performing in her own country. She toured Australia in recital for the ABC a number of times and became a principal member of the Australian Opera in 1976. That same year she declined an offer to sing at the Bayreuth Festival for family reasons. But she remained a committed Wagnerian and considered her Sieglinde in Die Walküre for the AO as the highlight of her career. She left AO to go freelance in 1980. She recorded Elgar's Sea Pictures with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in 1983, a recording which is often compared favourably with Dame Janet Baker's. On 11 June 1984, Elkins was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to opera. She was a Sessional Lecturer in Voice at the Queensland Conservatorium and taught at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Queensland in 1986. In 1990, she appeared as Azucena in Il trovatore for Queensland Lyric Opera. In 2002 she returned to the stage once more, as Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria rusticana for Opera Queensland where she was an honorary life member. She died in Brisbane of cancer in 2009, aged 78, survived by her husband