Dr. Diana Shapiro currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Minnesota-Duluth where she teaches applied and class piano, piano literature, and pedagogy. Accomplished soloist and chamber musician, Dr. Shapiro performed solo and festival appearances across three continents.
As a part of the Piano Duo Varshavski-Shapiro (www.piano-4-hands.com), Dr. Shapiro was a winner at numerous national and international competitions in Poland, Italy, Israel and Czech Republic. In the United States, the duo became a winner of Murray Dranoff Two Piano Competition, was awarded a Career Grant from “Salon de Virtuousi” and won the Astral Artists’ National Auditions. Dr. Shapiro enjoys regular appearances with leading instrumentalists in Israel and the USA, as well as singers of the New Israeli Opera and Royal Opera House Covent Garden. Her performances were selected for the Chamber Music America National Showcase and broadcasted on radio and TV worldwide.
Dedicated pedagogue, Dr. Shapiro's students won state and national competitions, presented at the state conference, and performed at Carnegie Hall. She regularly presents her research at the state and regional conferences, adjudicates at competitions and festivals, and gives masterclasses across the Midwest.
Previously Shapiro held teaching positions at the Silver Lake College, Maranatha Baptist University, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, and Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. She received her DMA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a Collins Distinguished Fellow. She also holds master and bachelor’s degrees from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, and Graduate Performance Diploma from the Longy School of Music. Her teachers include Victor Rosenbaum, Martha Fischer, Dr. Jessica Johnson (pedagogy), Dr. Irina Berkovich and legendary Israeli piano duo, Eden-Tamir.