Former Voice Chair Marlena Malas receives a standing ovation during a celebration to officially launch the Marlena Malas Scholarship Fund in 2022. Claudia Catania is standing to Malas’ right.
LAYLA VINSON
Staff Writer
Vocal coach and educator Claudia Catania spent 23 years in Chautauqua Institution’s opera environment working for the late Director of Chautauqua Opera Conservatory Marlena Malas. Now, she will return to the Institution to lead a masterclass at 4 p.m. today in Fletcher Music Hall as part of The Denyce Graves Foundation’s Generational Voices program.
Ahead of her masterclass, Catania reflected on her relationship with Malas and her time at Chautauqua.
“There’s a fear that comes as an artist that when it’s over, you will have nothing to do and no place to go. And for 23 years at Chautauqua, I worked for Marlena Malas. She helped me very much understand that the next step was to teach,” said Catania, reflecting on Malas’ decades-long legacy before her passing in 2023. “… And to pass it on as a helper, that’s what I think I do for Denyce.”
Catania introduced Denyce Graves to Malas during Malas’ induction into the 2022 Opera Hall of Fame by OPERA America.
As director of Chautauqua Opera Conservatory, a position formerly known as chair of the Voice Program before its title switch during the 2022 Season, Malas played an integral role in garnering much of the program’s success in her 40-plus years of work at Chautauqua. Using her positions as dean of admission at The Juilliard School and faculty for Curtis Institute of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, Malas connected students with a vast network of coaches, teachers and career opportunities.
“She attracted students from all over the world and she considered it a unique experience because they could come to Chautauqua, they could study voice with her and she was an icon of the vocal world like Denyce is an icon in the performing world,” Catania said. “… She was able to hear the potential greatness in a beginner’s voice and take them to a better place.”
Each artist in the Generational Voices program is surrounded by an intergenerational artistic council to help guide their professional journey and supported with resources ranging from distinguished educators to health and wellness experts to financial advisors. True to a core belief within The Denyce Graves Foundation, the program equips artists with the connections and knowledge necessary to “preserve history, illuminate shared humanity, expand opportunity and inspire excellence across generations,” according to its website.
In Catania’s perspective, both Malas and Graves are dedicated to advancing the next generation of opera artists.
“It’s interesting that Denyce would be in Chautauqua doing this because she and Marlena are very similar personalities: their spirit, their love of students, their commitment to the craft,” Catania said.
During Malas’ induction into the 2022 Opera Hall of Fame by OPERA America, she and Catania first connected with Graves in person while she was serving as co-host and master of ceremonies for the event.
Catania embraces Malas during the celebration.
“I said to [Graves], ‘Marlena would like to meet you.’ And in true Denyce fashion, she dropped everything and made a beeline to Marlena’s table and pulled up a chair,” Catania recounted. “She took Marlena’s hands in hers, and she said, ‘Marlena, you are a hero.’ And it was true, it really was true.”
Hoping to reconvene soon after but struggling to find the time in their hectic schedules, Malas died before the women had the opportunity to meet again. Catania reflected on the somber time with great appreciation for Graves, who she said was the first person to reach out and offer her condolences.
“At that moment, we bonded,” Catania said. “… It was such a blessing for me to lose Marlena and find Denyce.”
Considering one of the largest hurdles in opera is the shortage of time for young artists to invest in themselves vocally and personally, Catania said she believes both Malas and Graves have dedicated themselves to providing that vital element of time, subsequently helping artists grow and progress in a demanding field.
Catania’s roles with The Denyce Graves Foundation as a consultant, benefactor and educator — alongside her full-time faculty position at the Manhattan School of Music — serve as further drivers in her mission to ensure the musical art form survives and young artists have the opportunity to sing, honoring the legacy Malas endowed upon Chautauqua and beyond through decades of zealous leadership.
“[Malas] was a genius at what she did, and she was my voice teacher and she was my friend, certainly, best friend for many years,” Catania said. “… She had many famous students, and this is what I hope for Denyce. I hope for her that these people that she’s helping will become famous people so that she will have the same kind of legacy.”
Regardless of the famed artists the program may produce, Graves’ mission, support and pedagogical impact earn their eminence through how they resonate in the hearts of artists — as people and performers.
“This is all about creating an atmosphere for people to explore and sometimes people don’t know what they can do,” Graves said. “They’re surprised at what they discover about how big their talent is, or how long their voices are — or how big their hearts are, how much it is they have to say.”
