Diane Walsh, pianist
Diane Walsh, described by the Boston Globe as “a performer of great honesty and integrity, a pianist with superb technique…” performs solo recitals, chamber music and concertos worldwide, and she has made fourteen recordings of diverse repertoire. Her latest release is volume one of the Complete Schubert piano sonatas, for Jonathan Digital Recordings.
Diane Walsh's recent engagements include the Bartok Concerto No. 3 with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, the Strauss Burleske with the Syracuse and Delaware symphony orchestras, the Berg Kammerkonzert with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra in New York City and Mozart Concerto No. 24 with David Zinman at the Skaneateles Festival. She has appeared with the radio symphonies of Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Berlin, the San Francisco Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony and the St. Louis Symphony, toured with the Orpheus and the St. Luke’s orchestras and soloed with orchestras in Brazil, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Russia. In September 2007, she joined the cast of 33 Variations, a new play by Moisés Kaufman, in its debut production at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. for a month-long run. The play deals with Beethoven's last years and his writing of the Diabelli Variations, which Ms. Walsh performed on stage throughout the play. Coinciding with the play, her new CD of the variations, also entitled 33 Variations, was released by Jonathan Digital Recordings. The play, with Ms. Walsh as the pianist, had a second run at the La Jolla Playhouse in April 2008.
She has given recitals at the 92 Street Y, the Metropolitan Museum, Merkin Concert Hall and the Miller Theatre in New York City, the Kennedy Center in Washington, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw’s Kleine Zaal in Amsterdam, Philharmonic Hall in Leningrad, Dvorak Hall in Prague, the Mozarteum in Salzburg and in other major cities in the United States, Canada, Venezuela, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands.
In demand as a chamber musician, she has performed at many festivals including Marlboro, Santa Fe, Bard, Appalachian Summer, Music From Salem, Eastern Shore, the International Musician’s Seminar in Cornwall, and Strings in the Mountains. She has been guest artist with the Fine Arts, Mendelssohn, Brentano and Lydian string quartets, and she is a member of the Walsh-Drucker-Cooper Trio, and of the quintet La Fenice (comprised of piano, string trio and oboe.)
From 1999 to 2004 she was Artistic Director of the Skaneateles Festival, held annually during August in upstate New York. During her tenure she presented world-renowned performers; designed and performed in innovative chamber music and chamber orchestra programs; increased the number of open rehearsals, children’s concerts, and master classes; and co-created and performed in theatrical events such as “An Evening with Bill Irwin” and “The Love Letters of Robert and Clara,” set to music by the Schumanns.
Her many awards include the top prizes at the Munich ARD International Piano Competition and the Salzburg International Mozart Competition. She won the Concert Artists Guild International Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and was a prizewinner in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and also won that competition’s chamber music award. She also won prizes in the J. S. Bach International Competition in Washington D.C., the William Kapell International Competition in Maryland and the Busoni International Competition in Italy.
Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times praised Ms. Walsh’s Bridge CD “Sonatas and Preludes” for its “romantic sweep and arching lyricism.” She has also recorded for Nonesuch, Koch, Newport, Sony, Stereophile, Composers Recordings, Inc. and Biddulph; her first recording for Jonathan Digital Recordings, of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, was released in August 2007. Diane Walsh is a member of the piano faculty at Mannes College The New School for Music in New York City, and is a Steinway Artist.