Diane Kirkpatrick
What do you teach at the Prep Center?
Piano.
How old were you when you started music lessons?
As I am told, I could sing before I could talk — singing along with a music box and in perfect key. Being born into a family of musicians, this fact was taken quite seriously. My father was a violinist and had a beautiful tenor voice. He encouraged me to sing and to improvise on the piano until lessons in voice and piano began at age five. Soon I was playing music with the entire family.
Do you have a favorite memory from childhood?
My first musical memories are very strong and exceptionally early in my life — captivation at my first introduction to the sound of the piano, and recordings of Arthur Rubinstein playing some of the great piano concerti. Very powerful memories.
What are your most important goals for your students?
Developing technique, sight-reading skills, and musicality; exposure to varying repertoire; the nurturing of a basic love of music; and, above all, a very strong foundation in the use of the piano as a tool for expression.
Have you had any students with notable accomplishments (acceptance to a select middle school, high school, or college; competitions; special performances)?
Some of my students were finalists and semifinalists in the International Keyboard Institute and Festival Competition, and the Dorothy MacKenzie Artist Recognition Scholarship Awards, New York City, and won second place in the New Piano Stars Competition at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow, Scotland. Others have been accepted, some with scholarship, to the Conservatory of Music of Brooklyn College, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory (Cleveland), Mannes College of Music, Oberlin College, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the Crane School of Music – SUNY Potsdam, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music (Glasgow), Birmingham Conservatoire (England), Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague. In New York, many of my students have won auditions and attended music programs at Mark Twain, Bay Academy, Boody School of Arts, Middle School 51, Edward R. Murrow High School, Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, Professional Performing Arts School, Special Music School at the Kaufman Music Center, and LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts.Notable concert halls where students have performed are Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, and Merkin Hall. Students have won auditions and scholarships to the Eastern U.S. Music Camp at Colgate University, the Luzerne Music Center, and the Interlochen Arts Academy (Michigan).
What are your favorite accomplishments?
Several concerts come to mind as the highlights of my career. To be so well received — standing ovations! — in large halls by such enthusiastic audiences is truly exhilarating.
