Frances Yeend

Frances Yeend (/jɛnd/; 28 January 1913 – 27 April 2008) was an American classical soprano who had an active international career as a concert and opera singer during the 1940s through the 1960s. She had a long and fruitful association with the New York City Opera (NYCO) between 1948 and 1958, after which she joined the roster of principal sopranos at the Metropolitan Opera where she sang between 1961 and 1963. She also had an extensive concert career, particularly in the United States. By 1963 she had sung in more than 200 orchestral concerts in North American with major symphonies like the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra among others.

Born Frances Leone Lynch in Vancouver, Washington, Yeend grew up in Portland, Oregon. She had very little musical training before entering Washington State University (then Washington State College) in Pullman, Washington where she studied singing. Following several years of college, she worked as a music teacher for a few years, during which time she also sang as a recitalist and on the radio. She also made her professional opera début during this time as Nedda in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci in Spokane, Washington, although it wasn't until much later that she would appear in operas frequently.

Yeend's first New York appearances were in 1943 as a member of the ensemble in the Broadway run of The Merry Widow at the Majestic Theatre with Jan Kiepura as Danilo and Marta Eggerth as Sonia. Around this time she also sang on network radio as an uncredited soloist with Phil Spitalny and His All-Girl Orchestra. She joined Columbia Artists Management (CAM) in 1944 and performed the role of Micaela in a U.S tour of Bizet's Carmen that autumn.