Luis Diaz is a riveting, up and coming flutist from New York City. He is a consummate stylist, enjoying a wide range of styles from Baroque to New Music. Early on he was a promising student with the Young Artist Program at the Kaufman Center in New York City while attending High School at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts. World famous Tony Bennett, the President of the high school, found him practicing in the staircase one day and after listening to him rehearse a concerto gave him the opportunity to perform in Carnegie Hall with Alexander Markov, one of the top violin virtuoso performers in the country.
Diaz’s interest in classical music piqued when his elementary school took monthly trips to the New York Philharmonic, where he discovered his love for the flute. His music studies began through a scholarship program sponsored by the New York Philharmonic at the Lucy Moses School. Under the guidance of Valerie Holmes, his first flute teacher for eight years, he began taking lessons at twelve and entered the Special Music School.
In 2013, Diaz performed alongside his colleagues in Hong Kong, Beijing, and South Korea with Nyack College School of Music Chamberfest Tour. In March 2014, he was one of three students chosen to perform in a masterclass with virtuoso flute player, Sir James Galway. In 2016 he was invited to return to Asia for the Chamberfest Tour as the Artistic Director where he oversaw rehearsals, prepared programs, performed chamber and solo repertoire in Hong Kong, Seoul, Macau, and Japan.
Diaz has performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, Symphony Space, The Jay Sharp Theatre at the Juilliard School of Music, and Kodak Hall at the Eastman School of Music. He performed with the Inter-School Orchestra for numerous years, and has performed with the Brooklyn Academy of Music Philharmonic, the Astoria Symphony Orchestra, “Pershing’s Own” US Military Band, Little Orchestra Society, and the Manhattan School of Music Symphonic Orchestra.
While at New England Conservatory, Diaz was awarded a place on the Deans List, was a member of ‘Les Six’ Wind Sextet having been given the title of an Honors Chamber group after a rigorous audition process, and was chosen to tour with the Wind Ensemble to Canada. During the summer season, he worked for French Woods Performing Arts Festival, where he taught and oversaw sectionals, lessons, pit rehearsals, and prepared students for competitions and auditions. Diaz enjoyed performing in pit orchestras for over 50 musical productions and has played for the likes of the Bernstein Estate and the Yiddish cast for Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway.
Diaz received his Bachelor’s Degree in Flute and Voice Performance at Nyack College School of Music studying under Marie Herseth Kenote and his Master’s Degree in Flute Performance and Music Education at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where he studied under the tutelage of Renee Krimsier.
In addition to his music career, Diaz attended Rockland Community College Culinary Arts Center and worked as a line cook under the guidance of Michelin-trained chefs. He worked as a personal chef and baker amidst his training. He would then become Sous Chef of a latin-fusion restaurant while catering for his clients from his kitchen in Nyack and teaching students in the tri-state area.
Diaz now calls Austin his home and is pursuing both his music and culinary passions.