Menderes debuted on stage on 19 March 1960 performing in the opera Tosca by Giacomo Puccini staged at the 1959-established Istanbul City Opera. Her next performance was in the opera Madama Butterfly by Puccini. Her further roles were as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni and in La bohème by Puccini. In Puccini's Turandot staged in Ankara, she played both the princess Turandot and the slave girl Liu. She performed in operas like Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi, the role of Antonia in The Tales of Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach, Un ballo in maschera by Verdi, The Bartered Bride by Bedřich Smetana and Il trovatore by Verdi.
