PRESS RELEASE--Nov. 9, 2007
Information: Patricia Minton
Classical Performing Artists Management, San Diego
619 291-3055
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.