When asked for my photo and bio for publicity, I usually go into documents and folders - Open, Attach and Send. It is rare that I actually read my bio, and I don't steal even a glance at my photo! 

This past year has been full of change – new name, new address, new responsibilities, new musical opportunities.  All of these changes have forced me to make one more change – my bio.  As I opened it to update it, I saw so much wording that seemed so unnecessary, the generic phrasing seemed  so cold, and seeing the list of my accomplishments made me laugh.  I so wanted my new bio to read Hi, my name is Dianne Frazer, and I am a pianist!  But, as is customary, our agents and our performance venues request a bio, often times with directives about length and design.  So, I would like to propose the following – the first entry will be the customary bio, filled with the usual wording and phrases, complete with a list of accomplishments and performances; the second entry will be the real bio, filled with what is most important to me.  It will be a true autobiography because aren’t our bios really autobiographies?

American pianist, Dianne Frazer, has built a national and international career as a collaborative artist.  She has appeared in recital with musicians from around the world, and has toured extensively the United States and Europe with several of today’s leading artists.  The list of performers is extensive – in the flute world, it includes Patti Adams, Robert Aitken, Lori Akins, Claudia Anderson, Don Bailey, Randolph Bowman, Bonita Boyd, Leone Buyse, Jill Felber, Marianne Gedigian, Adrianne Greenbaum, Katherine Hoover, Katherine Borst Jones, Karl Kraber, Roger Miller, George Pope, Paula Robison, Jonathan Snowden, Alexa Still and ZAWA!.  In the double bass world, she has performed with Thierry Barbe, Yann Dubost, Gottfried Engels, Diana Gannett, Jorma Katrama, Daniel Marillier, Mark Morton, David Murray, Irena Olkiewicz, Franco Petracchi, Joel Quarrington, Francois Rabbath, Steve Reeves, Catalin Rotaru, Stefano Sciascia, Dennis Trembly and Jeffrey Weisner.  Other instrumentalists of note include Branford Marsalis, Meir Rimon, Froydis Re Wekre and Allen Vizzutti. 

Dianne has been a pianist with the Columbus Symphony since 1989, and has been under the baton of numerous conductors, including Robert Page, Margaret Hillis, Maurice Casey, Robert Spano, George Manahan, Marvin Hamlisch, Hal France, Christian Badea and Alessandro Siciliani. The vocalists are in the hundreds and therefore, too numerous to even highlight with fairness.  Dianne is a pianist with Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra and is on two recordings, featuring and working with the music of Libby Larsen, Gunther Schuller, Peter Schickele, and Roberto Sierra.  As a repetiteur for Opera Columbus, Dianne has worked under conductors William Boggs, Joseph Rescigno, Martin Pearlman and Louis Salemno. 

Dianne is a staff pianist for the National Flute Association, International Society of Bassists, World Bass Festival, American School of Double Bass, Central Ohio Flute Association, Flute Focus, and has had engagements with the International Trumpet Guild, International Hornists Society and Lancaster Festival.  Early in her career, she founded Capriccio, a horn, clarinet and piano trio, which was a two-time finalist at the prestigious Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. She has taught at three universities, Capital, Otterbein and Denison, holds two performance degrees, each from Capital University and The Ohio State University, and has studied with her mentor, Canadian pianist, George Haddad.  Other teachers include Juilliard graduate Nell Kriete, Richard Lehmann, Loy Kohler, as well as master classes with Earl Wild and Maurice Hinson. 

As an adjudicator, Dianne has judged for the National Piano Guild, Ohio Music Teachers Association, Columbus Symphony Concerto Competition and even a Junior Miss Pageant.  Higlights as a soloist include repeat engagements at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California and concerti with two Ohio orchestras.  She can be heard on several compact disc recordings – Thresholds and Russian Rendevous with Mark Morton (Basso Profondo Label), ZAWA!2 with the flute duo, ZAWA!,  Resonant Edges, featuring the music of Paul Osterfield (Capstone Records), and Favorite Horn Encores with Nicholas J. Perrini. 

In the Winter 2003 edition of Double Bassist Magazine, she was featured in the regular column, Life in the Day.  The 2008 Bass World calendar invited Dianne to be a monthly feature.

Dianne resides in New York City, has two grown sons, a daughter-in-law, and a beautiful granddaughter.   

I wish that part of the compound word, autobiography, meant that it auto-matically wrote itself!  Writing the above preface was easy because I just wanted to share my views about “the dreaded bio”. The “Kitchen Sink” bio is merely a list of musical events in my life, complete with all the necessary language in order to appear important and talented. I really think I wrote it all down in that format so that when I got older, I wouldn’t forget what I had done. Even though I accomplished everything on that list, I really wanted you to know the real me without having to expound on the serious details.  Below are some fun facts which truly shed light on the real me.  Enjoy!

  I was three years old when I was rushed to the Cincinnati School of Music (now CCM) after my parents found me on a church piano playing recognizable tunes. Because of this early awakening to piano, I have needed therapy ever since.  You see, as a little girl, no one ever asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up!  What if I wanted to be a firefighter, or a nurse, or a teacher??  Everyone assumed that little Dianne would play the piano.

  We traveled extensively as a family when I was growing up.  I only have Maine, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii to visit in order to complete my travels to all 50 states.

  Having lived in nine towns and 13 homes, a pack rat I am... Not!

  God has been coloring my hair gray since I was 32.  Hey, it’s free?!

  If I am not on the stage or in a rehearsal room, you will most likely find me in my kitchen (or even yours!).  I love to cook and I love to entertain.  I can’t go too many days without having guests over for dinner – of course, it's the being with people that I love the most.

  I adore sushi.

  Spontaneity is my middle name.  I am energized by change, and I love what just one moment can bring.  Some of my best collaborative performances have been when a piece was changed with hardly a moment’s notice (you know who you are!).  It's the challenge of that moment that puts me “in my element”, because it shows me what I can really do.  I love competing with myself. 
(By the way, my middle name is really Dianne; my first name is Emily.)

  I love being a staff pianist for conventions, festivals, and camps.  I enjoy the camaraderie with other performers that comes from learning so much music in such a short amount of time.  I am so grateful for the many friendships I've made through my convention work.

  Dining out has always been one of my favorite pastimes, but it is really the conversation with family and friends that makes it so special.

  I love Law and Order reruns, Golden Girls reruns (don’t laugh!), and of course, every show on the Food Network.

  I collect salt and pepper shakers.

  I seem to also collect shoes, watches and handbags (hahaha!).

  I adore my family and truly look forward to the times we can be together.  I raised two wonderful sons and gave them wings.  They have soared through life, giving and sharing their love, helping others, leading the pack, excelling in every aspect of living and bringing the most profound and extreme joy and satisfaction to me.  I love them more than anything in the whole wide world.  Through that love, I embrace my  father, my brother and his family, my daughter-in-law Lesley, and my granddaughter Jordan . My life is not possible or complete without them.