Recipient of the 2007 Joy in Singing Foundation Award and a winner of the David Adams Song Competition, Soprano Deborah Lifton is emerging as one of today’s most interesting and versatile young singers.  

The New York Concert Review had this to say regarding Ms. Lifton’s recent solo recital at New York’s Merkin Hall: “Her high notes were thrilling, her diction clear, and her concentration never wavered as she skillfully conveyed the meaning of each song…..she is a fine singing actress whose expressivity always seems to come from within…”.  An active recitalist, Ms. Lifton has also performed at Trinity Church, the Kosciuszko Foundation, Lippes Concert Hall, Yamaha Showroom, and Aspen, Colorado’s Harris Concert Hall.

Upcoming engagements include Poulenc’s riveting one-woman opera La Voix humaine with Ithaca’s own Kitchen Theatre Company and a world premiere of Su Lian Tan’s one-woman opera Lotus Lives with the Meridian Arts Ensemble.  In February, 2010 Ms. Lifton will sing a recital of music by distinguished Ithaca composers, including Sally Lamb, Roberto Sierra, and Dana Wilson.

In 2008, Deborah performed leading roles in Encompass New Opera Theater’s production of two one-act contemporary operas composed by Philip Hagemann at New York’s Symphony Space.  Other operatic appearances include both Susanna and Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, Valencienne in The Merry Widow, Beth in Little Women, Ellie in Showboat, Elisa in Il Re Pastore, and Catherine in A Death in the Family (Albany Records), as well as title roles in Bastien und Bastienne, L’enfant et les sortileges, and Armida.  Ms. Lifton has appeared with Mercury Opera Rochester, The Natchez Opera Festival, The Ash Lawn-Highland Festival, The Aspen Music Festival, The Bronx Opera Company, and Ridotto Opera.

Ms. Lifton regularly performs on sound tracks for documentaries and nationally televised commercials.   She has also been heard on WQXR and was featured in Young Opera, a new series on PBS.org. 

Ms. Lifton holds degrees in music from the University of Michigan and the Manhattan School of Music.  She has taught at New York University and Syracuse University and is currently an Assistant Professor of Voice at Ithaca College.