2028 Boston International Piano Competition

Arthur Dimond, a Brooklyn, NY native and University of Pennsylvania graduate, began taking private piano lessons at the age of six. After moving from Washington, DC to Boston for work in the public relations field, he bought his first “serious” grand piano, and explored new musical opportunities—in a chamber music group, as well as lessons at All Newton Music School and an NEC masterclass. During this period, he has performed in several recitals, monthly “soirees” of the Boston Piano Amateurs Association, regular appearances at Symphony Hall’s BSO Café, and also participated in BPAA piano festivals and its 10th and 11th Boston International Piano Competitions.

Dianne Impallaria started her musical journey at age 7. Her first teacher was Maria Cristofori. Music has always been a part of her life. She is a graduate of Northeastern University, BA degree in Music, and graduated Magna Cum Laude. She is a member of the Sigma Rho Honor Society. She has studied with therenowned teacher, Jeanette Giguere, at NEC, Myron Press, Jean Alderman at Rivers, Phyllis Moss, a Curtis graduate, Alys Terrien-Queen, and most recently, Alice Wilkinson. She regularly performed at the Museum of Fine Arts Tea Room, and has had several solo recitals. She has also performed in Chamber groups and duo piano. Her journey in music has not ended.

Nancy Kim started piano lessons at age 5 and studied at NEC Prep with Wha Kyung Byun. In high school, she was a prize winner in competitions and performed with Boston-area orchestras. She majored in Biochemistry at Harvard and received her MD from NYU. A rheumatologist by training, she now works in Clinical Research at Merck. Returning to solo piano performance after many years, she won first prize in the 2024 Silver Stream Boston International Piano Competition. She thanks her family, friends, and teachers for their support..

Daming Gao, a software engineer based in Boston, began his musical journey with piano lessons at age five. Although he paused his formal training during his teenage years to focus on academics, his passion for music never waned. Daming devoted his spare time to studying symphonic repertoires through scores and thousands of CDs. After a nine-year hiatus, he reignited his love for piano and resumed playing. He has since studied with esteemed pianists Krzysztof Jablonski, Diane Hidy, and Aleksandr Polyakov. Today, Daming is an active member of the Boston Piano Amateurs Association, continuing to share his love for music.

Sibylle Barrasso has an MBA from UCLA, is  a mother and the author of books, articles and mystery novels. She worked for IBM, Prime Computer and Bain, consulting for Fortune 500 companies and high tech start-ups. She studied piano as a child in Germany.  After a hiatus of many decades, her love for the piano re-ignited while writing a novel about Rachmaninoff 3rd piano concerto. She studies with Roberto Poli, took piano performance classes at New England Conservatory and Rivers Conservatory, and competed in several Boston and Chicago Amateurs Piano Competitions. She ’s been a regular pianist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra Café since 2010.

Kevin Schwarz works as a Software Engineer for Disney and resides in West Hartford, Connecticut. He has spent numerous hours at the piano since the age of five, studying under the tutelage of Veda Zuponcic and James Giles. Kevin has played with multiple orchestras and chamber groups, including soloing with his hometown West Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and also plays chamber music. He would like to thank his wife, Emily, for all her support, and his two year old son, Theo, for reminding him why music-making is so magical.

Erik Lindgren is a well-known Boston area pianist/composer who performs regularly at the Boston Symphony Orchestra Cafe, art galleries, galas, and with the Bespoke Consort, his chamber quartet. His eclectic and engaging piano repertoire includes Ragtime to Gershwin, Mozart to Satie, and everything in-between. As a commercial composer, Lindgren created jingles and scores for all three networks, PBS, Jordan Marsh, Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Christmas Tree Shops. Lindgren is on the board of the Brockton Symphony Orchestra and the Plymouth Center for the Arts. He is passionate about chai, Irish setters, and tango.

Richard Einhorn was born and raised in Montreal. Richard started taking piano lessons at age 6. During his teenage years, he entered the Quebec Music Festival competitions annually, winning first prize in his age group several years running. At Yale, he first majored in music. After one year as a piano major at Yale’s Graduate School of Music, he took a 23-year break from music to pursue a career in medicine. He returned to piano in 1998, taking lessons and returning to the concert stage. He won the 2003 Boston Piano Competition and performed the Schumann Piano Concerto with an orchestra. Previously, he raised his family in Hamilton, and was in private practice in gastroenterology at Beverly Hospital from 1984 until he retired in 2018.

Robert Berkowitz is a psychiatrist during the day and pianist at night.  He was the winner of the 2016 San Diego International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs. Robert was the featured soloist and performed the first Mendelssohn Concerto in San Diego. He also brought back the music of Hungarian Jewish composer Lajos Delej, and the Boston Globe published this story on Dr. Berkowitz and his quest to uncover details of Delej’s short life and his music.

Robert Finley studied piano at Trinity College of Music in London and gained the ARCM diploma. He was a finalist in the Chopin, WIPAC and Colorado competitions. He has played recitals in France, England, Germany, Israel, Poland, Hungary and Argentina, and concertos with orchestras in England and Fort Worth. He is the President of the Boston Piano Amateurs Association. He played the Liszt 1st Concerto with the Boston Civic Symphony orchestra.  In March 2022 Robert was a guest soloist in Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Brockton Symphony Orchestra.  He was a semifinalist in the 2022 Van Cliburn Competition for Outstanding Amateurs. In October 2023 he gave a recital at Villa Wahnfried in Bayreuth, Germany on Richard Wagner's Piano.