About Diana
Diana Thacher is a pianist, educator, and collaborative artist whose work bridges classical tradition with contemporary voice, presence, and imagination. She is an Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Louisiana Monroe and maintains an active international performing and teaching career.
Trained in both the European and American classical traditions, Diana holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Louisiana State University and a Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Her artistic path has unfolded across orchestral, chamber, and interdisciplinary settings, shaped by long-term collaboration, premiere work with living composers, and a sustained engagement with both classical repertoire and its contemporary extensions.
Diana has performed in concert halls and festivals across the United States, Europe, and Asia, appearing as a soloist with ensembles including the Kazakh National Symphony Orchestra, the Shenzhen Chamber Orchestra (China), the LSU Student Orchestra, and the Moscow Rendezvous Music Festival Orchestra. She has toured throughout Germany with the Symphony Orchestra of Central Asia and is currently Principal Keyboard with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.
Her work has received recognition through numerous national and international piano competitions, including First Prize at the LSU Concerto Competition (2019), First Prize at the International Siberia Piano Competition (Novosibirsk, Russia), and Second Prize at the Tolyatti International Chamber Music Competition.
Alongside her solo work, Diana is deeply committed to collaborative and contemporary performance. She has appeared as a guest artist at festivals such as New Music on the Bayou, where she works closely with composers and performs newly written works, as well as the McCall Music Festival, the Banff Summer Festival, and the Utah Summer Music Festival. Her chamber collaborations have included performances with musicians from the Boise Philharmonic Orchestra and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since 2016, Diana has been a core member of the New Orleans–based chamber ensemble Musaica, whose work centers on adventurous programming, commissioning new music, amplifying works by women and Black composers, and reviving rarely performed repertoire. Through Musaica and other collaborations, she remains actively engaged in the creation and performance of contemporary chamber music.
Her recent artistic projects reflect an interest in expanded performance contexts and cross-genre dialogue. These include a six-concert solo piano series devoted to the works of Chopin, presented as part of FeverUp’s Candlelight concert series (2021), and the international piano tour Tribute to Coldplay (2022–23). Her current solo recital project, Reimagined Classics, places music by Scarlatti, Scriabin, and Ravel in conversation with rock influences and contemporary compositional voices, inviting listeners to experience familiar repertoire through a modern, associative lens.
In addition to her university appointment, Diana has held teaching and collaborative positions at institutions including Loyola University of New Orleans and Boise State University, and has worked with organizations such as the San Francisco Opera, the New Orleans Opera, and Jefferson Performing Arts Center. She previously served as co-director of the Piano Technique Intensive Workshop at the Collaborative Piano Institute Summer Festival at LSU, contributing to advanced technical and artistic training for emerging pianists.