Rosalia L Maresca

Rosalia Maresca was born August 16th, 1923 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Her family came to New York from Sorrento, Italy. She grew up helping in her family’s successful grocery business in New York City. As a young girl, she would bring groceries to her voice teacher as a means of payment for lessons. These were her humble beginnings as a musician and put her on a path towards becoming an opera singer.

Rosalia led a rich and fulfilling life as a professional musician. Her career began when she made her operatic debut at the age of 16 in 1939. Some of her career highlights include the following: a radio program in NYC in the 1940s, various performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, 6 consecutive seasons with the Cincinnati Opera, a concert tour with the Bel Canto Trio sponsored by Columbia Artists, a soloist for the Martha Graham Dance Company on the President’s Cultural Exchange Program, and she also represented the USA in the International Madame Butterfly Competition where she was one of the 10 finalists that traveled to Japan.

As well as her performance career, Rosalia was also a respected vocal professor in multiple venues. She taught at the Manhattan School of Music from the late 1960s-1973 and later educated at Ruth Eckerd Hall. She additionally maintained a private studio in Pinellas County for over 50 years.

Beyond her performance and teaching, she also was an active impresario in the Tampa Bay Area. She dedicated her life to her love of music and nurturing and cultivating local talent. Rosalia held yearly productions of Amahl and the Night Visitors, monthly luncheons featuring entertainment, and she helped enrich the local community with concerts that featured musical theater and operatic highlights throughout the seasons.

Rosalia also found faith extremely important, and served as a choir director at multiple venues, including Pilgrim Congregational Church and St. James United Methodist Church. She was involved in these religious communities for over 3 decades.

In addition to all the “hats” she wore discussed above, Rosalia was a loving mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She acted as a loving matriarch to her family, always looking after them with tender and loving care. She is survived by her daughter, Rena Massey; her grandchildren, Thomas Massey and wife Flora Massey, Karena Jimenez Pulido and husband Robert Jimenez Pulido; and great-grandson, Mario Kyriakos Massey.

Please meet at the church.

Funeral mass will be held at Holy Cross Catholic Church in St. Petersburg on April 12, 2024 at 10am with family and close friends.

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