CUTV News Radio Spotlights Diana Mittler Battipaglia

Forest Hills, NY - Diana Mittler Battipaglia is an accomplished Professor of Music at Lehman College who has taught for more than 55 years, and a talented pianist and conductor.

Diana began studying the piano at the age of 6 with her mother, Regina, a graduate of the Vienna Conservatory. Diana’s father, Franz Mittler, was a renowned composer and pianist. At age 10, Diana won a scholarship to the Juilliard Preparatory Division and soon after began studying flute.  At age 14 she performed as a piano concerto soloist with the New York Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall. In college, while continuing as a piano major at the Juilliard School, she also played principal flute with the Columbia University Orchestra and the City Symphony.

After graduating with Bachelor and Masters Degrees from the Juilliard School in 1963, Diana held teaching positions at Flushing and Bayside High School until she was offered a position as Professor of Music and Choral Director at Lehman College in 1986. She had maintained her performing career throughout, earning her doctorate from the Eastman School of Music in 1974 and becoming the director and pianist of the Con Brio Ensemble in 1978.

“Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the death of my father and I would like to honor him through a series of concerts,” says Diana.

In July 1995, she appeared as a featured soloist in a concert of works by her father at the International Summer Academy of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. In April 1998, she performed in a concert of her father's music at the Herbert von Karajan Centrum in Vienna under the auspices of the Orpheus Trust.

“I was very fortunate in my life with mentors that helped me,” says Diana.  “I am grateful to continue to perform and share my love and gift of music with the world.”