Maralin Niska, 1926-2016: Opera diva had San Pedro, Torrance roots

Soprano Maralin Niska, a San Pedro native and former Torrance elementary schoolteacher who went on to sing more leading roles (29) at the New York City Opera than anyone else, died last week at her home in Santa Fe New Mexico. She was 89.

Niska debuted in 1967 in “Marriage of Figaro” and, for the next two decades, sang leading roles for both the New York and the Metropolitan operas.

Bo Maralin Dice in San Pedro on Nov. 16, 1926, Niska leaed to play violin and piano as a child. She also took vocal lessons and, as a teenager, began to perform solos at First Presbyterian Church in San Pedro when it was at 10th and Mesa streets.

“We all grew up in the First Presbyterian Church,” said Dolores Teuber of Palos Verdes Estates, who was raised in San Pedro and a lifelong friend of Niska’s. “She sang in the choir very early on; she was just God-gifted with this wonderful voice.”

Both graduated from San Pedro High in 1944.

“She was so loyal to San Pedro, we always invited her to our class reunions and she’d always come,” she said. “For me, that was always a treat, that this person who had traveled the world and was known all over the world would come to our class reunions.”

Niska, who kept the married name she took from her first husband, received her bachelor’s degree in English literature from UCLA and later taught at Torrance’s Riviera Elementary School from the mid- to late 1950s. Her singing career took off in 1965, when she sang for the Metropolitan Opera National Company in 1965.

In 1968, she also sang the title role in “Madama Butterfly” for the opening of the new Santa Fe Opera. She married musician-conductor William Mullen in 1970 and the couple have continued to live in Santa Fe, where Niska had a private vocal studio and provided masters classes. She died following a long illness.

Among her many acclaimed performances through the years were roles singing opposite Placido Domingo, George Shirley, Sherrill Milnes and Jose Carreras.

She also appeared with some of the leading conductors of her time, including Pierre Boulez, Erich Leinsdorf and Andre Kostelanetz.

Stephanie Mardesich of San Pedro said that Niska sang at her parents’ wedding in 1944, calling her “the most acclaimed talent to emerge from San Pedro in the last century.”

In 1988, Niska retued to San Pedro to perform a May 7 concert in celebration of the town’s centeial year. The performance, a fundraiser for the centeial organized by Teuber, was at the First Presbyterian Church’s new building at Eighth Street and Averill Avenue.

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Niska gave her last professional performance on Christmas Eve 1996 in Santa Fe, performing arias of Mozart with the Musica de Camara Orchestra conducted by her husband.

She is survived by her husband. There will be no public service but Wednesday night’s performance of Don Giovai at the Santa Fe Opera will be dedicated to her memory.

Share remembrances and express condolences for Maralin Niska.

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