diana cusano

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Diana Cusano

Louisville, Kentucky · Epidemiologist and Mom

finalist · scherzo

Diana began playing piano at age five and pursued serious classical training through her teens, including a televised solo recital for the Young Steinway Concert Series and a PianoArts competition prize featuring a concerto performance with orchestra. She then earned a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Chicago and an M.P.H. from Yale School of Public Health, followed by a decade in healthcare analytics — years during which music receded into the background. In 2023, while raising three young children, she returned to serious piano study. She now works with Anna Petrova (UT Austin), following earlier training with Lyn Bronson, Emilio del Rosario, and Stephen Perry. Since her return, she has been a finalist in the 2025 Oberlin International Adult Amateur Piano Competition and the 2026 Boston International Piano Competition, where she won the prize for Best Classical Performance.

Program2

first round

Fri, Oct 9 · 6:15 PM CT

Cécile Chaminade
Pièces Humoristiques Op. 87 No. 4 ‘Autrefois’ in A minor
Chopin
Scherzo No. 1, Op. 20 in B minor

final

Sat, Oct 10 · 2:20 PM CT

Einojuhani Rautavaara
Pelimannit (Fiddlers), Op. 1, III. Klockar Samuel Dickström
Scarlatti
Sonata in A major, K. 101, L. 494
Sonata in E minor, K. 98, L. 325
Chopin
Polonaise in G-sharp minor (posthumous.)
Beethoven
Sonata Op. 27 No. 1 ’Sonata quasi una Fantasia’ in E-flat major
Results

finalist · scherzo