Eileen Farrell, 1920-2002, who became a star of the Metropolitan Opera, launched her professional singing career in 1941 for CBS and made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1960,earning world-wide acclaim. She spent her early years living in Willimantic and Norwich, Connecticut, but came to her mother’s hometown of Woonsocket in her teens. Farrell received the music industry’s Grammy Award and was been awarded several honorary degrees including Doctorates from Harvard, Notre Dame, and URI.