Chambers, Madelaine

Biography

Madelaine Chambers, a lyric soprano who sang at the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera in the 1950's and 60's, died on April 30 at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. She was 72 and lived in Allentown, N.J. The cause was leukemia, said Leyna Gabriele, a friend. Ms. Chambers attended New York University, Teachers College at Columbia University and the Juilliard School. She also won a Fulbright Award for vocal studies in Italy. She made her professional debut in the early 1950's as Musetta in Puccini's ''Boheme'' at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan. She also won several competitions, including the international contest for opera singers in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the Marian Anderson Scholarship Fund Auditions in New York. Ms. Chambers made her New York City Opera debut as Micaela in Bizet's ''Carmen'' in 1954; the next evening she sang Zerlina in Mozart's ''Don Giovanni.'' In 1955 she was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera's Auditions of the Air and was signed to the company's roster in 1956. At the Met she appeared in Verdi's ''Forza del Destino,'' Puccini's ''Madama Butterfly'' and Mozart's ''Nozze di Figaro.'' After her retirement Ms. Chambers taught voice at Princeton University and the State University of New York at Purchase.

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