Giving

Alta Malberg (BM ’69) and Dr. Marc I. Malberg with their daughter, Ariel

Alta Trachtenberg Malberg studied voice at Manhattan School of Music, graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1969. She and her husband Marc, an orthopaedic surgeon, have recently joined MSM’s planned giving society and made arrangements in their estate plans to establish a series of art song master classes at MSM.

Alta grew up in central New Jersey, the daughter of the cantor of a local synagogue. She started taking voice lessons at the age of 12, and it wasn’t long before she herself was giving lessons to her classmates, an aspect of her professional career that continues to this day.

Her music teacher, Casimir Urbanski, suggested that she apply to his alma mater and with the help of her private voice teacher, Harriet Rogers, Alta and two other classmates were accepted to Manhattan School of Music. “We were very excited and proud to be there,” Alta exclaimed. She fondly remembers the classes she took with several of the iconic MSM professors: Theory with Paul Eisler (“who also helped me secure singing engagements”) and Ludmila Ulehla; Music History with Fritz Kramer (“he taught me how to listen to music”); Class Piano with Ernest Ulmer; and Chorus with Hugh Ross, who assigned her the soprano part of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

With Alta’s strong-willed determination to get the most she could from MSM, she petitioned to change major teachers, as she felt her first was not a good fit. She remembers when the Dean of Students approached her in the hallway: “Oh Dearie!” Mrs. Whitford exclaimed, “you were right about her not being the right voice teacher for you!” The replacement was none other than the internationally celebrated soprano (and Arturo Toscanini favorite) Rose Bampton. It was the beginning, not only of a respected mentor/pupil relationship, but of a life-long friendship. Alta recounts: “I learned so much about life and art and the real world of singing. I also had the great fortune of being coached in French mélodie and opera by Bampton’s husband—the conductor, composer and pianist Wilfrid Pelletier.”

After graduation, Alta had the opportunity to study and perform in Italy and did a season of musical theater in Chicago’s prestigious Goodman Theater. Returning to New York, she garnered cinema credits with roles in Woody Allen’s Broadway Danny Rose and in Columbia Picture’s 1972 Witches of Salem, in addition to musical performances. She returned to Europe, this time to Germany: perfecting her language skills and working with Herr Erich Rieder, the Intendant of the Nuremberg Opera.

But it was the love of the art song that kept calling to her. “I have always been attracted to the total responsibility the artist has in recital,” Alta explains. “The intimate connection with the audience, the poetry of the text and having to tell the story without costume or sets are so appealing to me, as is the all-important collaboration with the pianist.” This deep appreciation of singers' artistry later led to an administrative career path. It was Rose Bampton who introduced Alta to Winifred Cecil, founder of the Joy In Singing organization. Alta was asked to join the board, where she served for many years, eventually being appointed president.

In response to the hardship Alta witnessed musicians experiencing during the pandemic, she decided to do something positive and created a nonprofit arts organization, the Federation of the Art Song (FAS). Funds were raised and within six months of its founding, it held a medically-compliant concert of art songs outdoors. “It’s now in its third year,” Alta says proudly. “The mission of FAS is to help singers and collaborative pianists develop and to educate the public on the expanding catalogue of song repertoire from a multitude of sources. This year was our second annual Fellowship Award, a monetary and mentoring prize and I’m so honored that we were able to hold the competition at MSM.”

In addition, Alta explains, “After the passing of our loving daughter, Ariel, who was vocally talented as well as visually artistic, we created a memorial fund in her name for those who are struggling to meet life’s challenges and for those whom life has presented obstacles for which they have no answers.” The Fund supports “If Music be the Food of Love,” the component of the Federation that provides help for musicians in need. “I have a strong belief in the value of songs of all genres sung in a classical style,” she continues. “And I want all deserving singers and collaborative pianists to be able to develop their artistic skills and individualities to the best of their abilities. MSM is the best place to do that and that is why I have made the Manhattan School of Music part of my legacy."

Joining like-minded donors in the School’s Galaxy Society and create your own legacy at Manhattan School of Music by including a gift designation in your will or other estate plan. Contact Susan Madden 917-493-4115 or smadden@msmnyc.edu to learn more about how to create a legacy that meets your financial needs and charitable goals.