Jean (Browning) Madeira, 1918-1972, sang as contralto diva of the Metropolitan Opera. She gained world renown for her performances in the role of Carmen and starred in the Munich, Salzburg, and Bayreath Festivals. She sang leading roles at LaScala, San Carlo, Vienna, Convent Garden, the Stockholm and Paris Operas, and was sensational as Delilah at the Israeli National Opera. Jean was the only American ever to sing Carmen in the Aix-en-Provence Festival as performed in 1957. She was also a soloist at the Metropolitan Opera opening in Lincoln Center.

While attending the Julliard School of Music, she met and subsequently married a piano student, Francis Madeira, who later became conductor of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, a faculty member at Brown University, and occasionally accompanied his wife following her transition to a full-time singing career. The couple made Providence their home.