Born and raised in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Russia, Veronika Agranov-Dafoe first studied piano performance at the Leningrad (St. Petersburg) Conservatory of Music. She immigrated to the United States in 1992 and earned a Masters of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory in 1994.
While working on her degree, Ms. Agranov-Dafoe became the choir accompanist and the soloist for Palo Alto Unitarian Church, as well as the rehearsal pianist for West Bay Opera. In 2000 she joined the SJSU Opera workshop as a coach and pianist and two years later started working at Opera San Jose. Ms. Agranov-Dafoe is now the Head of Music staff at Opera San José.