Cambridge Who's Who Names Marquita Lister Professional of the Year in Performing Arts
Ms. Lister has recorded George Gershwin's "Blue Monday" and excerpts from "Porgy and Bess" for Telarc Records with Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops

WASHINGTON, DC, September 28, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquita Lister, Opera Singer, has been named Cambridge Who's Who Professional of the Year in Performing Arts. While inclusion in the Cambridge Who's Who Registry is an honor, only a small selection of members in each discipline are chosen for this distinction. These special honorees are distinguished based on their professional accomplishments, academic achievements, leadership abilities, years of service, and the credentials they have provided in association with their Cambridge Who's Who membership.

Renowned for her poignancy, precision and intelligence, critically-acclaimed opera singer Marquita Lister is proud to follow in the footsteps of her girlhood idol, African-American soprano Leontyne Price. Over the course of a colorful 22-year career, Ms. Lister has filled venues all over the world, performing alongside the likes of Placido Domingo, Justino Diaz, Frederica Von Stade, Simon Estes and Sherrill Milnes. She sings an impressive repertoire that includes masterpieces by Verdi, Puccini and Strauss, but is still best remembered for her interpretation of Bess in the New York City Opera's Emmy-nominated production of "Porgy and Bess," which earned her the NYCO Diva Award in 2002.

A successful recording artist, Ms. Lister has recorded George Gershwin's "Blue Monday" and excerpts from "Porgy and Bess" for Telarc Records with Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops, "Where the Sunsets Bleed: The Chamber Music of Edward Knight" for Albany Records, and the critical smash "Porgy and Bess" album on the Decca label, hailed by Opera News as one of the best recordings of 2006. She has also appeared in several television broadcast productions, including "An Evening at Pops: Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops" and "Live from Lincoln Center," both on PBS, and "A Christmas Celebration: Dallas Symphony Orchestra" on KXAS-TV. Widely respected in the music industry, Ms. Lister has been invited to lend her talents to a number of major opera companies, most notably the San Francisco Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, the Montreal Opera, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg, La Scala, Semperoper Dresden, Staatsstheater Stuttgart, Arena di Verona, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opera Bastille Paris, and the Michigan Opera Theater.

Ms. Lister holds a master's degree in music from Oklahoma City University and a bachelor of arts in music from the New England Conservatory of Music. She also completed training at the prestigious Houston Opera Studio. She currently serves as a spokesperson for the Negro Spiritual Scholarship Foundation and maintains active affiliation with Sigma Alpha Iota. In addition to her Diva Award, Ms. Lister was honored with the Artist of the Year Award by the Pittsburgh Opera and with the Outstanding Service to the Arts Award and the Legend to Legend Award, both by The Links, Incorporated.

For more information about Marquita Lister, log on to her website at http://www.marquitalister.com.

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Ellen Campbell
Cambridge Who's Who
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