Lister apprenticed at the
Houston Grand Opera (1987–89), and made her mainstage debut with the company as the title heroine in
Giuseppe Verdi's
Aida in 1992. She went on to sing principal soprano roles at the
San Francisco Opera,
Portland Opera,
Austin Lyric Opera, and the
Vancouver Opera among others. She played Bess in a world tour that included performances at the
Opéra Bastille in Paris and the
La Scala in Milan. She sang Musetta in
La bohème at the
Arena di Verona Festival, then Bess, yet again, at the
Bregenzer Festspiele and
New York City Opera, where she won the Diva Award (2002). She also appeared as Bess in New York City Opera's "Live From Lincoln Center" PBS broadcast of
Porgy and Bess on March 20, 2002. Lister has performed
Lady Macbeth and Aida at Dresden's
Semperoper,
Rusalka at
Boston Lyric Opera, and Cassandre in
Les Troyens at the
Amazon Theatre in Brazil. Last summer she again starred as Bess in a concert version of Gershwin's opera at the
Hollywood Bowl. She has performed with world-renowned artists such as
Plácido Domingo,
Justino Díaz,
Frederica Von Stade,
Simon Estes, and
Sherrill Milnes. She 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 critically acclaimed
Porgy and Bess for Decca, hailed by
Opera News as one of the best recordings of 2006. In April 2011, Lister reprised her signature role of Bess in a concert production with the Akron Symphony. During August 2011, Lister sang the role of Serena in
Porgy and Bess at
Tanglewood. Also that year, she performed a program of Gershwin classics with Maestro Tovey at the keyboard in Vancouver, Canada and appeared with him and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra's Mahler extravaganza (MahlerPlus) in the composer's Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Resurrection to a standing ovation. In February 2012, she joined the African American Art Song Alliance at the University of California, Irvine, where she sang the song cycle, "The Wider View" by H. Leslie Adams, as well as the Act II aria, “Lady of the Water,” from "Amistad" by Anthony Davis. The following month she appeared at the Videmus@Festival on the Hill at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where she gave a Master Class and performed a tribute concert honoring the distinguished Videmus organization. Additionally, at the request of composer Michael Ching, Ms. Lister recorded his contribution to the Opera America Songbook commissioned to celebrate the opening of the National Opera Center. She then reprised the role of Serena in a concert performance of "Porgy and Bess" with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, again under the direction of Maestro Tovey. Ms. Lister continues to appear on a variety of television programs. She recently launched a radio talk show series with noted radio host Doug Llewellyn, and appears regularly on WAMU radio. == Personal ==