Florence Jepperson Madsen (December 15, 1886 – April 8, 1977) was an American contralto singer, vocal instructor, and professor of music.

In 1941, she was appointed a member of the General Board of the Relief Society, the women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Her responsibilities included overseeing the development of new music for the Relief Society, traveling to visit local chapters of the organization, and directing women's choirs such as the "Singing Mothers."

Her grade school teachers inspired her to pursue music;[2]: 44, 49–52  and, at the age of thirteen, she was chosen to be the contralto soloist at the Provo Tabernacle.

Her music career blossomed on the East Coast; renowned opera baritone David Bispham heard her perform at the New England Conservatory in May 1909, and enthusiastically encouraged her to continue singing.

When her mother's health stabilized in 1911, Madsen returned to Boston and was hired as a vocal teacher at Lasell Seminary, where she remained for five years.

Madsen sang pieces by English, American, French, German, Scandinavian, Italian, and Russian composers.

[2]: 65–99  Her time on the east coast was spent serving an unofficial LDS mission; she assisted in sharing her faith via her musical talents whenever the local missionaries requested her help.

[1] For example, she performed at a small concert held to convince the owner of the Cumorah property (a hill in Palmyra, New York) of the place's historical significance to the Latter-day Saint movement.

[2]: 98–99 After seven years in Boston, Madsen moved back to Provo to teach at what by then had become Brigham Young University (BYU).

[2]: 111–29  After a few years at BYU, Madsen lived for a brief time in New York City, singing in famous churches and studying under opera manager Herbert Witherspoon.

[2]: 137  Later in her life, Madsen directed the choir that sang at the dedication of the Hyde Park Chapel; she was applauded for her work in blending together the voices of people from the U.S., England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland into one cohesive sound.

She returned home from New York at this time to tend to her sister Marguerite's double pneumonia diagnosis and her brother's funeral.

She later hung many of her brother Parley's paintings on the walls of her office in the College Building on Brigham Young University's campus.

[2]: 145–48  Also influencing the court's decision was Madsen's promise that she would marry soon after returning to Utah and raise the girls in a household with a father figure.

He then spent some time in Boston as a student at the New England Conservatory, and continued taking voice lessons from Madsen.

"Together," writes author Grace H. C. Christensen, "they have earned the highest educational honors and recognition in the music world.

[2]: 185, 249 George H. Brimhall selected Madsen to be the head of Brigham Young University's music department,[1] a role she held for ten years.

She also delivered speeches and wrote articles on the power of music, such as a piece for the Deseret News published in July 1937.

[1] She planned the musical program for the Relief Society centennial celebration, slotted for March 17, 1942; however, the project was cancelled months before, due to the outbreak of the World War II.

She also traveled to Denver, Colorado; Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada; multiple cities along the East Coast, and the Hawaiian Islands.

Madsen's Relief Society contributions also included the creation of musical compositions and instructional materials pertaining to directing and singing.

The term "Singing Mothers" also referred to local choirs, small and large, within ward and stake Relief Societies.

Various members of the Relief Society made sacrifices of time and money to travel long distances and train under Florence Madsen.

A poem published in the Relief Society Magazine thanked her for her work; and Herbert B. Maw, the governor of Utah at the time, wrote her a letter praising the Singing Mothers' performance.

Both her published and unpublished works range from simple songs written only for women's voices to complex compositions involving as many as eight parts.

[2]: 336  Of her compositions, her biographer Grace Hildy Croft Christenson wrote: "She has written music capable of expressing love, pleasure, despair, resignation, pain, sympathy, hope, uplift, strength, virility, and praise".

She had worked with five university presidents: George H. Brimhall, Franklin S. Harris, Christen Jensen, Howard S. McDonald, and Ernest L. Wilkinson.

She was one of the recipients of T. Earl Pardoe's 1952 certificates of recognition for "outstanding service to humanity, the nation, state, community, the University, or the Church.

At the Harris Fine Arts Center on BYU campus, a recital room was named after Franklin and Florence Madsen.