This article appeared in the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer on Monday, March 30, 2020.
When Diane Earle first considered the position as professor of piano at Kentucky Wesleyan College in 1984, she had to look up Owensboro on the map.
Now, 36 years later, Earle has decided to retire from the college where she has spent her entire teaching career.
“I thought I’d stay here a few years, and then I fell in love with the community and the college, and 36 years later, here I am,” she said.
Earle began playing piano at age 6 and says she always knew she wanted to be a pianist.
Originally from Canton, Ohio, Earle received her bachelor of music in piano performance from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, her master’s of music in piano from Ohio State University, and she began her doctor of musical arts degree in piano at the Eastman School of Music, but later finished her doctorate at Ohio State.
She has traveled the world performing on cruise ships and various venues, is the current Settle Memorial music director, and the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra’s principal pianist, both jobs that she intends to keep. She plans to stay around Owensboro and hopes that with her free time in retirement, she can continue what she calls her music ministries throughout the area, performing in the Owensboro Health Regional Hospital lobby as well as assisted living communities “when all this virus stuff is over, of course,” she said.
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