On Sunday Nov 6 music lovers had the pleasure to listen to the well known solo soprano Demetra George accompanied by pianist Rauf Kasimov in the lovely setting of the Karaman Church. The event was organised by the Church Committee.
Demetra George sang famous love arias under the theme "A Night in the Movies". It is not her first time in North Cyprus, she was already a guest at the Bellapais Music Festival in 2008.
In the course of the performance Vic Lundie, known to us for his passionate involvement with jazz, accompanied her on his trumpet for two songs.
Hereafter please read about her career, so you may know what you have missed.
Soprano Demetra George to Receive Honorary Doctorate
Oklahoma City University will confer an honorary Doctorate of Music on Beverly Hills soprano Demetra George at winter commencement exercises on Dec. 14.
Miss George who attended OCU as Debbie Giannopoulos was crowned Miss Oklahoma and All College Basketball Queen. Earlier, as Miss Teenage OKC, she won the national talent award and later, as Miss Oklahoma, she went on to represent her state in the Miss America Pageant. She has been inducted into the OCU Performance Hall of Honor.
The singer has appeared on national television and radio, at Carnegie Hall and she has performed for four U.S. presidents. She has soloed with more than 150 symphony orchestras, including the Japan Philharmonic, Sofia Bulgaria State Theater Orchestra and the Fundacion Musicale de Honduras and she has sung leading operatic roles in Boston, Houston, Tampa, Palm Beach, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, and Las Vegas. She is a student and protégé of famed voice teacher Nina Hinson.
In 2008, she'll become the first American artist to solo with the Baku (Azerbaijan) Philharmonic in a pops concert of opera and Broadway songs. She premiered their new national anthem in the United States and was invited to sing for the President and dignitaries.
"I've been blessed to travel and meet amazing people throughout out the world," she said. "I have learned that you must have a dream, a passion, and that if you work hard, have courage, care about people and live with integrity, you will find success and happiness". She continued, "In my music, I am a servant of God and I breathe life into the notes on the page and make them live as I bring joy to others. Each day I live, I aim to infuse the same joy and passion for life into the lives of the people around me."
Miss George was nominated for a Grammy in 2002 for her CD, "Demetra George Sings Love Arias" and in 1995, the governors of Oklahoma and Florida honored her for her production of "Help for the Heartland, With Love From Florida" concert that raised a considerable sun for victims of the Oklahoma City bombing.
Miss George is active, decorated and performs for a number of organizations such as the World Affairs Council, LA Consular Corps, the American Friends of Israel and Turkey, the ALS organization, ATAA, ATASC, Optimist Club Int'l, and TALL, a ladies group she founded five years ago that aids blind and underprivileged children in the US and abroad.
Miss George teaches private voice lessons to 80 students in Los Angeles and Palm Beach, of which 13 have performed leading roles in such Broadway shows as Annie Get Your Gun, Beauty and the Beast, Falsettos, Grease, The King and I (Tony Award cast), Les Miserables, The Lion King, Into the Woods, The Sound of Music, Wicked and Wonderful Town. Her students also have starred in Disney films and on the Family television channel.
The mother of two college-age daughters, Miss George is married to Beverly Hills businessman Mike Mustafoglu who is the Honorary Consul General from North Cyprus to the US.