Curtis Mourns the Passing of Marlena Kleinman Malas (Voice '60)

The Curtis community mourns the loss of alumna and longtime faculty member Marlena Kleinman Malas (Voice ’60), who passed away on December 4, 2023, at age 87. A cherished member of the school’s voice faculty for over 30 years, Ms. Malas guided many singers who enjoyed stellar careers on the world’s greatest opera and concert stages. 

Herself an internationally renowned recitalist, Ms. Malas graduated from Curtis’s voice program in 1960. She performed with the Metropolitan Opera Studio and was affiliated with opera companies in New York City, Santa Fe, Boston, Miami, Washington, D.C., and Milwaukee. She was a soloist with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra and appeared at the Marlboro, Casals, and Ravinia festivals. 

Ms. Malas was one of the country’s most sought-after singing teachers, holding longtime faculty positions at the Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music—in addition to Curtis—and served as the Chautauqua Institution’s opera conservatory director. She was a consultant and teacher for the Canadian Opera Company, the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Program, the English National Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Castleton Festival, and Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Young Artist Program, among many others. She has taught master classes around the world, including with the Metropolitan Opera, New National Theatre in Tokyo, San Francisco Opera Center, European Center for Opera and Vocal Arts in Brussels, Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, and (with Joan Sutherland and Luigi Alva) Australian Opera in Sydney.

Of Marlena’s impact and legacy, Miloš Repický, Hirsig Family Chair in Vocal Studies at Curtis says: “She was a truly world-class artist and singing teacher who has deeply influenced countless students and audiences for decades. These talents were surpassed by her profound ability to connect with people and create a genuine community wherever she went. That is a legacy we will always treasure and strive to continue in her honor.”

Our heartfelt sympathies and condolences go out to Ms. Malas’s family, friends, colleagues, students, and all those who remember her fondly. She will be greatly missed.  

A memorial service for Marlena Kleinman Malas will be held Thursday, December 7, 2023, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Riverside Memorial Chapel (180 West 76th Street, New York, NY 10023) and will also be livestreamed.

Photo credits: 1.) Photo of Ms. Malas courtesy of the Chautauqua Institute. 2 & 3.) Portrait of Marlena Kleinman Malas circa late 1960s, and image of Ms. Malas performing in a production of Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi at the Curtis, courtesy of the Curtis Institute Library and Archives.