Brazilian born pianist Derison Duarte has received much acclaim for his performances throughout the United States.  Audiences and critics have praised his spontaneity virtuosity and poetic style. 

Since making his concerto debut at fourteen with the Missouri Symphony, Mr. Duarte has performed more than a dozen works for piano and orchestra and his list of engagements include the Saint Louis Symphony, Corpus Christi Symphony, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and Boise Philharmonic.  Mr. Duarte has been invited to present recitals as a guest of the Dame Myra Hess Series in Chicago, the Oberlin College Conservatory, the Boston Conservatory, the Seattle Arts Museum, Brown University, the Maestro Foundation Series in Santa Monica, and the Bunka Kaikan Series in Tokyo among others.  He has been featured on NPR’s Performance Today playing works of Chopin, and has made numerous radio appearances.  He is a seasoned collaborator who has performed with many professional artists and ensembles including the Indianapolis based Dance Kaleidoscope. 

Mr. Duarte has been a major prize winner in many national and international competitions including the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition, Kingsville Young Performers International, Nena Wideman Concerto Competition, Grace Welsh Prize for Piano, and Young Keyboard Artists International as well as a laureate of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition.  In 1997, he was awarded the prestigious American Pianists Association Fellowship. 

Mr. Duarte studied with Jane Allen, Donald Walker, Eugene and Elizabeth Pridonoff, and Evgeny Liebermann at the Gnesin Institute in Moscow. 

Mr. Duarte’s early teaching was at the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati where he enjoyed working with gifted young pianists.  He concurrently served on the faculty of the Northern Kentucky University Preparatory Department.  Mr. Duarte has also taught at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles and the Interlochen Arts Academy and Summer Camp.  He currently serves on the faculty of North Carolina Central University as a collaborative pianist.  Mr. Duarte’s students have regularly performed in recital, placed in competitions, participated in festivals and have been accepted to many of the country’s most important schools of music including the New England Conservatory, the Eastman School of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, the Oberlin Conservatory, the University of Southern California, Indiana University, and the Cleveland Institute, among others.  Appearances on NPR’s “From the Top” and a guest artist solo with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra highlight some of his students’ personal accomplishments.