 At a recital organized by Thursby at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Wittkowski's performance so impressed Bessie Oakman, the daughter of former U. S. Senator Roscoe Conkling, that in 1906 she arranged to have the young singer travel abroad to be tutored by the famed Italian baritone, Antonio Cotogni.Two years earlier, Wittkowski had been given the opportunity to sing in front of the noted contralto Ernestine Schumann-Heink, at the time in Syracuse to perform at a concert.Heink told her that her voice was one of the most promising she had ever heard, and suggested that she study Wagnerian operas at Bayreuth and participate in their annual festival to gain the training and experience not yet available in America; a path that at the time was beyond Wittkowski's means.