Mark Di Pinto

Mark Di Pinto, an award-winning pianist, is assistant professor of music at Washington Adventist University, a position he has held since 2006. He performed extensively as a soloist with the New England Youth Ensemble while a student at Columbia Union College, now Washington Adventist University, and has more recently worked collaboratively in recitals with soloists as an accompanist and soloist.

Mark’s childhood was spent in Malaysia and Singapore, where his parents, Maitland and Cynthia Di Pinto, were missionaries. His mother was an amateur singer and pianist and started Mark on piano at age six.  Since his family moved and travelled frequently, his early education and training was sporadic. His first serious study was with Rena Phau, an inspiring teacher who enrolled him in the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music program (ABRSM)

The family moved to Silver Spring, Maryland, when he was fourteen and he continued his study with Douglas Guiles. During this time he won various top awards in several local and state-level competitions, including the Henri Carol Memorial Competition, the Miriam Shields Gottlieb Young Pianists Memorial Competition, the Yardumian Ensemble Competition, the E. R. Davis Competition, and the Maryland State Music Teachers Association (MSMTA) Festival Competition.  Additionally, Mark was chosen three times as piano soloist for the Greater Laurel Music Teachers Association (GLMTA) Concerto Competition.

He attended Spencerville Junior Academy and then Highland View Academy, where he graduated in 1995. He enrolled at Columbia Union College, now Washington Adventist University, as pre-med major but in his third year decided to pursue music as a career. He completed a B.Mus. summa cum laude in 1999, with piano as his performance area.

While at CUC he was piano soloist with the New England Youth Ensemble, performing with them in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Scandinavia, Russia, South Africa, and the Middle East when they played in venues that included St Martin-in-the-Fields, Sydney Opera House, Capetown City Hall, and Carnegie Hall.  More recently, Di Pinto played the world premiere of Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse's African Suite for two pianos and orchestra in Carnegie Hall In 2005. He has also toured throughout the Pacific Northwest and New England with violinist Naomi Burns Delafield

Di Pinto pursued graduate study at the Peabody Conservatory and then transferred to the Eastman school of Music, where he completed an M.Mus. and a D.M.A. in piano performance, studying with Nelita True.

Mark is married to Ekaterina Tomenko, a dentist who graduated from CUC with a B.A. in music with a double major in voice and cello. They have three children, Anna Sophie, Daniel, and Isabella.

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Source: Information provided by Mark Di Pinto, 2014.