Praised as “a pianist with superb technique” (Boston Globe) and a performer of “romantic sweep and arching lyricism” (The New York Times), DIANE WALSH has achieved an international career of distinction. She has appeared with the American Symphony, the San Francisco, Indianapolis, Austin, Delaware and Syracuse symphonies, and the Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Berlin radio symphonies. She toured the U.S. with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, toured Europe with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and was soloist with orchestras in Brazil, The Netherlands, The Czech Republic and Russia. Conductors with whom she has performed include David Zinman, Seiji Ozawa, Erich Kunzel, Peter Bay, Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Leon Botstein, Stephen Gunzenhauser, Eliahu Inbal and John Nelson. Her recitals include engagements at the Kaufman Auditorium of the 92nd Street Y, Merkin Concert Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Miller Theatre in New York, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg, Dvorák Hall in Prague and the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

In 2009 she performed Beethoven’s Variations on a Waltz of Diabelli on stage in 113 performances of the Broadway production of 33 Variations, a play by Moisés Kaufman starring Jane Fonda, at the Eugene O’Neill Theater. She was also the pianist in three other productions of the play, in Washington D.C. (Arena Stage), La Jolla (La Jolla Playhouse) and Los Angeles (Ahmanson Theater), and was music editor of the play’s script, published by Dramatists Play Service, Inc. in 2011. 

Her many awards include the top prizes at the Munich ARD International Piano Competition, Salzburg International Mozart Competition, Concert Artists Guild International Competition and Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and she was a laureate of the William Kapell, Busoni and Van Cliburn competitions as well. Among the many summer festivals where she has performed are Marlboro, Santa Fe, Bard, Chesapeake, Eastern Music Festival and Skaneateles, where she was the artistic director from 1999 to 2004. She is a member of the Walsh-Drucker-Cooper Trio and the quintet La Fenice.  

Ms. Walsh has made sixteen recordings for labels which include Bridge, Newport, Sony, Nonesuch, Koch, Stereophile, and CRI; her latest releases are Schubert’s Sonatas Vol. I and II on Jonathan Digital and Paul Moravec’s Useful Knowledge on Naxos. She has commissioned and/or premiered works by Barbara Kolb, Nathan Currier, Hugh Aitken, William Bolcom, Betsy Jolas, John Anthony Lennon and Gerald Cohen, among others. Ms. Walsh has served on the juries of national and international piano competitions including The Academy, William Kapell, Concert Artists Guild, Young Concert Artists, Iowa Piano Competition, Rosalyn Tureck Bach Competition and PianoArts.

Ms. Walsh is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where she studied with Irwin Freundlich,  and she holds a master’s degree from Mannes College, where she studied with Richard Goode. She has been a member of the piano faculty of Mannes since 1982. She is a Steinway Artist.

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