CHRISTINA DIETRICH, Director of the Belmont Piano Academy
Ms. Dietrich first began her piano studies at the age of three with her musicologist father, Mr. Piotr Dietrich. By the age of four, she was accepted by the New England Conservatory of Music, where she continued her piano and music studies. Her first public performance was at the age of five. By the age of nine, she appeared as a soloist with the New England Conservatory Orchestra.
Since her childhood, Ms. Dietrich has appeared extensively in concerts, as well as participated in competitions, where her many first place winnings resulted in a series of television appearances during her teen years. She has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras. Early on in her career she appeared with the Indian Hill Symphony and has collaborated with such noted composers as Lucas Foss and Theodore Antoniou in the performances of their piano/orchestral works. She has performed on such stages as Jordan Hall, Boston, Symphony Hall, Boston, and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, New York to name a few. Throughout her career as an artist and educator, Christina Dietrich has performed in the United States and Europe in many capacities. For over twelve years, Ms. Dietrich was regularly scheduled on the New York Public Library Concert series and performed in over fifty concerts for the Chopin Society of New England in the Boston area alone. At the Chopin Society, her collaboration with the incomparable soprano, Ms. Danuta Sava-Wysocka was responsible for the Boston premiere of the complete songs of Fryderyk Chopin. Her artistic achievement led to a special invitation by the Consul General of Poland to perform at the Consulate in New York. This was crowned by a letter of recognition and thanks from then President Lech Walesa of Poland. Ms. Dietrich received her Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, her Master of Music from Boston University and pursued her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at that institution. Her principal teachers were A. Ramon Rivera, Victor Rosenbaum, Veronica Jochum (the daughter of the world famous conductor, Eugen Jochum), and the internationally acclaimed pianist, Professor Anthony di Bonaventura. Ms. Dietrich’s musical chronology extends back to Beethoven and Salieri by way of her teachers, descendants of both Franz Liszt and Theodor Leschetitzky, the two major schools of piano virtuosos. A selected few can boast of having the honor and privilege of passing that legacy on to future generations – a mission she takes to heart as a teacher, a performing artist, as well as a general public educator of what she refers to as “the joy of classical music.” In addition to maintaining a concert career and regularly presenting master classes in the art of piano performance, Ms. Dietrich is currently on the faculty and chairman of the piano department at Indian Hill Music, faculty of the Steinert’s Piano Academy, adjunct music professor at Mount Wachusett Community College and Northern Essex Community College, as well as Artistic Director of the Steinway Society of Massachusetts and awarded a Steinway & Sons Top Teacher Award for both 2017 and 2018. Ms. Dietrich has held faculty positions at the New England Conservatory of Music, Brookline Music School, North Shore Community College and is Founder/Artistic Director of the Summer Music Festival at Northern Essex Community College, Founder/Director of the Chopin Conservatory of Music on the North Shore and Vice President of the Chopin Society of New England. Most recently, she was appointed Steinway Ambassador at M. Steinert & Sons. |