 Dessoff studied voice with Gustav Gunz und Marie Schröder-Hanfstängl (1892–97) at Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium in Frankfurt and from 1912 directed the women's chorus there.Dessoff's singing career was cut short when a famous opera singer (probably Hanfstängl) teaching at Dr. Hoch's apparently ruined her voice.She regained it through private lessons (with Jenny Hahn, a pupil of Julius Stockhausen), but had she not lost her voice she might never have become a well-known and well-loved choral director.