Upshaw begins cancer treatment

Soprano Dawn Upshaw began treatment for early stage breast cancer Thursday, canceling her engagements through January 2007, her manager said.

Upshaw, 46, who had been scheduled to give a performance in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday, was being treated in New York, said Alec Treuhaft, the singer’s New York manager at IMG Artists.

Treuhaft described Upshaw’s doctors as “very optimistic” and said the singer “intends to be back on the stage for a U.S. tour recital in mid-February.”