Email: diana.battipaglia@lehman.cuny.edu
Phone: 718-960-7795
Office: Music Building, Room 309
Office Hours: By appointment requested via email
Rank: Professor 

Degrees and Sources of Degrees

•  B.S., M.S., Juilliard; D.M.A., Eastman School of Music

Biography

Diana Mittler-Battipaglia, holder of a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Juilliard, studied voice with Margit Schey, Irene Jordan, and Masako Toribara, and choral conducting with Abraham Kaplan, Frauke Haasemann, and Margaret Hillis. Her piano teachers have included her parents, Regina and Franz Mittler, Edward Steuermann, Eugene List and Jane Carlson. Further studies in chamber music were with Arthur Balsam, Louis Persinger, John Wummer, John Celentano, Carroll Glenn, and at Tanglewood's Berkshire Music Center.

Her performances with Lehman choruses include such masterpieces as Brahms’ Requiem; Vivaldi’s Glorias in D; Bach’s Magnificat, and Gloria and Credo from the Mass in B minor; Handel’s Messiah, and Chandos Anthem No. 9; Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Mass in Time of War; Mozart’s Requiem, Vespers K321 and 339, and Coronation Mass; Poulenc’s Gloria; Schubert’s Masses in G, A-flat, B-flat, and E-flat major; Beethoven’s Mass in C; Dvorak’s Mass in D; Borodin’s Polovetsian Dances; and major excerpts from Mendelssohn’s Elijah.In May 2011, she celebrated her50thsemi-annual concert as conductor of the Lehman College and Community Chorus.

Dr. Battipaglia made a successful New York piano recital debut in 1977 and has been the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships as a pianist. She has been a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the New Haven Symphony, the National Orchestral Association, andin many solo and chamber music concerts and broadcasts in New York and New England.As cofounder of the Con Brio Ensemble, she has presented an annual series of chamber music concerts in the metropolitan area since 1978 and has been recorded on Preiser and Con Brio Records. She is also an accomplished and recorded flutist. Her biography of her father, Franz Mittler: Austro-American Composer, Musician, and Humorous Poet, was published in 1994 by Peter Lang Publishing. In July 1995, Dr. Battipaglia appeared as a featured soloist at the International Summer Academy at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. On June 13, 1996, this program was presented at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall as part of the new Austrian Concert Series under the auspices of the Austrian Cultural Institute which also presented her in a program of trios by Viennese émigré composers at Merkin Hall in October 1997. She has been Professor of Music and Choral Director at Lehman College since 1986, where she also performs regularly with the Lehman Chamber Players. She received the Lehman College Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1993, and the Prism Award from the Presidents Committee on Pluralism and Diversity in 1996. In April 1998 she performed in Vienna in programs sponsored by the Orpheus Trust. In March 2001, she was featured by radio station 1010 WINS on its “Good For New York” series. In July 2005, Dr. Battipaglia and the Chorus were highlighted on CUNY-TV’s “Study With The Best” series. They are also featured in the film-documentary, “Last Stop: Kew Gardens,” which was aired in April 2009 on PBS Channel 21. In May 2009, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Music from the New York State Assembly. In May 2011, she was elected chair of the Music Department.

Select Publications and Performances

• Mittler-Battipaglia,D (Pianist and Executive Director) Con Brio Ensemble, NY. Annual series of performances at the Library of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, Lehman College, Queens Borough Library System, Church in the Gardens-Forest Hills, and other cultural centers.
• 30th anniversary concert at the Austrian Cultural Forum in 2009.
• Mittler-Battipaglia,D (Choral Director and Conductor) Semi-annual performances with the Lehman College and Community Chorus and Orchestra in the Lehman College Performing Arts Center
• Mittler-Battipaglia,D (Pianist) Franz Mittler: Viennese Wunderkind (CD); Franz Mittler: Lieder and Chamber Works (CD)
• For a complete annotated list of performances in 2011, please click here.