About Diana
Diana Thacher is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Louisiana Monroe. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Louisiana State University and a Master of Musical Arts from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Diana is a winner of numerous piano competitions, including First Prize at the LSU Concerto Competition (Baton Rouge, 2019), First Prize at the International Siberia Piano Competition (Novosibirsk, Russia, 2004) as well as Second prize at the Tolyatti International Chamber Music Competition, Russia (2005).
Performing in concert halls around the globe, Dr. Thacher has soloed with the Kazakh National Symphony Orchestra, the Shenzhen Chamber Orchestra (China), LSU Student Orchestra, and Moscow Rendezvous Music Festival Orchestra. She has also toured throughout Germany with the Symphony Orchestra of Central Asia.
As an active collaborative pianist, chamber musician, and educator, Diana has held positions at music schools and art organizations, such as Loyola University of New Orleans and Boise State University. She collaborated for multiple seasons with the San Francisco Opera, Jefferson Performing Arts Center, and the New Orleans Opera.
Dr. Thacher taught at the Fresco Academy of Performing Arts in Eagle (ID) and presented piano and chamber ensemble master classes throughout the United States, Canada, and abroad. She also co-directs Piano Technique Intensive Workshop at the annual Collaborative Piano Institute Summer Festival (LSU).
Diana has performed in various chamber groups throughout the San Francisco Bay Area as part of the "Classical Revolution" project and appeared as a guest artist at the New Music on the Bayou Festival, McCall Music Festival, Banff Summer Festival, and the Utah Summer Music Festival.
She performed in chamber series with musicians from Boise Philharmonic Orchestra and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and recently joined the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra as a principal keyboard for the 22-23 concert season.
Diana is actively involved in several musical projects and collaborations, among which were her artistic engagements with FeverUp, - the Candlelight Series of Six Solo Piano Recitals dedicated to Chopin's Best Works (2021), and the piano tour "Tribute to Coldplay" (Sydney- San Francisco, 2022-23 ).
Current projects include a series of solo recitals, "Reimagined Classics," bridging the music of Scarlatti, Scriabin, and Ravel with rock bands and new music composers.
Additionally, Diana has been an active member of the New Orleans-based chamber ensemble "Musaica" since Fall 2016. The group aims to promote and foster chamber music performance, encourage new music compositions, program works by women and black composers, and revive rarely played and forgotten pieces.
Dr. Thacher maintains a private teaching studio which can also be found on her online platforms. She is redefining what it is to be a classical musician of the 21st century and hopes to inspire the Next Generation of Creatives to embrace versatility.
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