Mourning the Loss of Acclaimed Soprano Benita Valente (Voice ’60)

We are saddened to share that renowned lyric soprano and alumna Benita Valente (Voice ’60) passed away on Friday, October 24, 2025, at her home in Philadelphia at age 91.  

Praised for her pure and effortless voice, Benita performed opera, chamber music, and lieder—a genre in which she was among America’s great recitalists—on the world’s leading stages for nearly four decades. 

“She is as gifted a singer as we have today, worldwide,” wrote John Rockwell in the New York Times in 1983.

A Classical Music Powerhouse 

Benita entered Curtis in 1955, studying with French baritone Martial Singher. In 1958, while still a student, she debuted with the Philadelphia Orchestra.  

Her connection to Curtis extended beyond music: In 1959, she married Anthony Checchia (Bassoon ’51), who would later lead the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival. The pair became one of “classical music’s power couples,” according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, until Checchia’s death in 2024.  

Building an Extraordinary Career   

Her professional career quickly blossomed. She made her formal debut at the Marlboro Music Festival with pianist Rudolf Serkin in 1960 and debuted with the Metropolitan Opera in the fall of 1973, singing Pamina in The Magic Flute. She appeared more than 70 times with the Met, singing leading roles in Rigoletto, The Marriage of Figaro, Idomeneo, Rinaldo, and Falstaff. 

She also garnered wide acclaim for her work as a recitalist and chamber musician, winning a Grammy Award for her recording of Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 2 with the Juilliard String Quartet, and a Grammy nomination for Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ.  

In 1999, she became the first vocalist to receive the Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award from Chamber Music America—the organization’s highest honor for contributions to chamber music. 

Mentoring the next generation of artists 

After retiring from singing in 2000, Benita devoted herself to teaching, leading master classes at Marlboro, at the European Mozart Academy in Poland, and at the Cincinnati Conservatory’s program in Lucca, Italy, among others. In 2001, she received an honorary degree from Curtis alongside her husband, Anthony Checchia. 

As a beloved alumna and member of the Philadelphia arts community, Benita will be greatly missed. We extend our deepest sympathies to her son Pete Checchia and her “daughter by choice” Eliza Batlle.