Ann Chotard grew up in Little Rock singing.  After graduating from Little Rock High School, she attended Henderson State University and received a Bachelor of Music degree.  She would later receive her a master’s and doctorate in music from the University of Colorado.  In 1966, she returned to Henderson on the music faculty.

In 1973, she formed Arkansas Opera Theatre in Little Rock. By 1976, it was a full-time focus for her as she left Henderson.  From 1973 to 1990, she led the AOT as it performed at various venues around Little Rock and the state.  As the state’s only professional opera company, it presented operas in English in an effort to be accessible to a broader audience.

By the late 1980s, she started looking for a permanent home for the AOT.  Settling on land west of Little Rock, in 1990, Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts was established.  Instead of doing year-round programming, it now presented opera and other arts in a month-long festival format.

The first few years, performances took place in a black box space in the park.  (It later became the backstage area.) In June 1995, the Cabe Festival Theatre opened.  With a thrust stage and over 700 seats, it set performers near the audience.

In 2007, she retired from Wildwood after 34 years leading a professional opera company.  By the mid 1990s, arts education and youth training were capturing more of her attention.  After retirement, she founded the Chotard Institute. It specializes in offering college preparatory training for aspiring young classical singers.