“Above all, the pianist’s responsibility is to discover a personal and passionate narrative in everything they play. They must find a way to lift the notes off the page and build, caress, and forge them into a story. Whether a dream, an epic drama, a love song, a murder-mystery, or a silly joke, it is the responsibility of the artist to decipher the clues left by the composer and craft a work that speaks to the audience.”
In addition to winning the 1997 American Pianists Association Fellowship, Derison Duarte is a first prize winner of the Young Keyboard Artists, Kingsville Young Performers, Union Civic Arts League, and Grace Welsh Prize for Piano competitions. He is a major prize-winner of the Nena Wideman, Hilton Head, and Missouri Southern International Piano competitions, and a laureate of the Gina Bachauer International Competition. He has won several concerto competitions and performed over a dozen solo works with orchestra including the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. He has given numerous solo and collaborative recitals throughout the US, as well as Japan, China, Brazil, and Russia.