In addition to winning the prestigious 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 performed countless solo recitals throughout the US and abroad and over a dozen piano concertos with orchestra, including the St. Louis Symphony and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
“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.”