| − | American lyric soprano '''Frances Yeend''' (1918 - ) was born in [[Vancouver, Washington]]. She studied voice at [[Washington State University]] in Pullman, Washington. Her first New York appearances were in 1943 in the Broadway run of Lehar's ''[[The Merry Widow]]'' with [[Jan Kiepura]] and [[Marta Eggerth]]. She joined Columbia Artists Management in 1944 and performed Micaela in a U.S tour of Bizet's ''[[Carmen]]'' that Columbia booked that fall. In April of 1946 Yeend made her first appearance as the [[soprano]] [[Solo (music)|soloist]] in [[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|Beethoven's Ninth Symphony]] with the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]] under the direction of [[Serge Koussevitzky]]. The following summer she performed the role of Ellen Orford in the American premiere of [[Benjamin Britten]]'s [[Peter Grimes]] at the Tanglewood Music Festival. Yeend went on to become one of the members of the [[Bel Canto Trio]] with [[Mario Lanza]] and [[George London (baritone)|George London]]. Her debut with the New York City Center Opera was as Violetta in [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi's]] ''[[La traviata]]'' in 1948. Other roles there, over the next twelve years, included, Amelia in [[Gian-Carlo Menotti|Menotti's]] ''Amelia Goes to the Ball,'' Countess in [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart's]] ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]],'' Marguerite in Gounod's ''Faust,'' Eva in [[Richard Wagner|Wagner's]] ''Die Meistersinger,'' Micaela in ''Carmen,'' Felice in [[Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari|Wolf Ferrari's]] ''The Four Ruffians,'' the title role in Verdi's ''Aida,'' Nedda in [[Ruggero Leoncavallo|Leoncavallo's]] ''Pagliacci,'' the title roles in [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini's]] ''Tosca'' and ''Turandot'' as well as Mimi in his ''La Boheme'' and all the soprano roles in [[Jacques Offenbach|Offenbach's]] ''The Tales of Hoffmann.'' Yeend made her debut with the [[Vienna State Opera|Vienna Staatsoper]] in 1953 in ''La traviata.'' She debuted at London's [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]] that same year as Mimi in ''La Boheme.'' In 1958 Yeend sang the title role of Puccini's ''Turandot'' at the [[Verona Arena|Arena di Verona]] in Italy. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Chrysothemis in [[Richard Strauss|Richard Strauss's]] ''Elektra'' in 1961. Other Met roles included Violetta in ''La traviata'' and Gutrune in Wagner's ''Götterdämerung.'' Yeend appeared as soloist with major [[orchestra]]s more than 300 times. She was a regular with the [[New York Philharmonic]], the [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra|Chicago Symphony]], the [[Philadelphia Orchestra]] and the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra|Boston Symphony]]. She appeared extensively in recitals in the U. S., Canada and Europe. She recorded for [[RCA]], [[Columbia Records|Columbia]], [[Mercury Records|Mercury]], MGM, and DaVinci Records. In 1966 Yeend joined the faculty of [[West Virginia University]] as Professor of Voice and Artist in Residence. She retired in 1978.
| + | '''Frances Yeend''' (1918 - ) an American lyric soprano was born in Vancouver, Washington and studied voice at [[Washington State University]] in Pullman, Washington. |