DIANA MITTLER-BATTIPAGLIA received both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from the Juilliard School of Music and her Doctorate from the Eastman School of Music.  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.  Dr. Mittler-Battipaglia has appeared as soloist with community orchestras and with the New York Philharmonic, the New Haven Symphony, and the National Orchestral Association, and in many solo and chamber music concerts and broadcasts in New York and New England.  She made a successful New York solo recital debut in 1977 and as co-founder of the Con Brio Ensemble, has presented an annual series of chamber music concerts in the greater New York area since 1978, and has recorded for Preiser Records – Vienna, Austria and Con Brio Records.  Of her playing, Alan Hughes of the New York Times said, “…there was a consistently musical approach to everything that gave the listener confidence in her artistic instincts.”

Dr. Battipaglia is currently Professor of Music and Choral Director at Lehman College of the City University of New York, where she performs regularly with the Lehman Chamber Players.  She has also served as an educational consultant to the New York City Board of Education, the New York State Education Department, and New World Records.  In 1993, she received a major award for “Excellence in Teaching” from Lehman College, where she also received the PRISM Award in 1996 from the President’s Committee on Pluralism and Diversity.

Her biography of her father, Franz Mittler: Austro-American Composer, Musician, and Humorous Poet, was published by Peter Lang Verlag in 1994.  In July 1995, Dr. Battipaglia was featured performer at the International Summer Academy at the Mozarteum in Austria.  During 1997-98, she performed at Merkin Concert Hall under the auspices of the Austrian Cultural Institute and in Vienna, Austria in programs sponsored by the Orpheus Trust.  In March 2001, she was featured on radio station 1010 WINS “Good for New York” series, and in July of 2005 CUNY-TV featured her and the Lehman Chorus on its “Study with the Best” series.  They also appeared in April 2009 on PBS Channel 21 in the film-documentary “Last Stop, Kew Gardens.”  In May 2009, Dr. Battipaglia was honored with a lifetime achievement award in music from the New York State Assembly.  In May 2011 she was elected Chair of the Music Department.