Diana Diaz

Diana grew up in Tampico, Mexico, the youngest of four daughters. She left the family home in 1994 to study at the University of Guadalajara where she took four years of Biology followed by another four years to obtain her Music degree.

Diana auditioned and won a chance to pay for another year at the Royal Toronto Conservatory of Music. Consequently, she and her husband moved to Toronto for the year.

Her husband was keen to emigrate permanently to Canada , but she preferred to return to Mexico . (She wasn’t keen on Toronto’s winter weather!) Nevertheless , her husband had made application for them to immigrate. It was when she was away on an opera tour that he notified her that their applications had been approved! To complete the process, they then had to go back to Mexico and return over land via Buffalo to the Canadian border crossing. There was a 6 month grace period for them to confirm their desire to remain in Canada as landed immigrants.

Diana’s husband wished to remain in Toronto, but in 2009 Diana chose to leave him and set out Vancouver with only two suitcases. Initially she stayed at the ‘Y’ in Vancouver, but since it was suggested she would like North Vancouver as a place to live, she found accommodations and a job at Home Hardware in North Vancouver.

Diana admits to being a handy person who likes to repair things. It obviously has suited her well as she has been at Home Hardware for 13 years, working her way up to the Manager position. Diana has been seeking a change though and will start as a Home Support Worker with VCH in a few weeks.

How did Diana end up as our church’s lead soprano? When first settling in Vancouver, Diana sought out a music connection and first took voice lessons. From there she was referred to audition with the Vancouver Jewish choir where she sang for 11 years. She spent a year, as well, with the Vivaldi choir and then joined the St Andrew’s choir under Daryl Nixon (husband of our Music Director). From there, of course, she met Alison and joined NSUC’s Vox Lumina choir.

Sadly, in the midst of the Covid pandemic in 2022, Diana’s mother died, leaving her father alone in Tampico. With that tragedy — and having a full time job plus many singing engagements — Diana felt the pressure was too great, so she stepped down from many of her previous activities. Fortunately though, she swears that she is ours to keep, as she has found not only great friendship here but finds our beliefs align with hers.

Catherine Tseng

Catherine joined us as our pianist and choir accompanist in 2019. Prior to this, she has had a long history of musical training and accomplishments.

Catherine moved here from Taiwan at age 12 with her parents and younger brother. In Taiwan, her mother felt she had musical talent and sent her to audition for a school for talented children. She had been playing piano already from the early age of 5.

At this school, she was required to learn three instruments so besides piano, she was taught violin and another instrument called Er-hu.

In Canada, she attended Semiahmoo secondary school grades 8-12, but from age 12 was also attending the Vancouver Academy of Music — and then later, UBC School of Music. From there she received numerous scholarships and awards including first prize at the Canadian Music Competitions at age 13.

Catherine performed as a piano soloist at the 2010 Winter Olympics and also has performed with various symphonies and concerts in major venues in Vancouver.

Currently, she is a professional pianist who accompanies instrumentalists, singers, ballet performances as well as ballet lessons and exams. She also teaches piano and accompanies two other choirs besides our own.

Asked if she practices much, she replied, “Only if it is a particularly difficult selection.”

Does she get nervous before preforming? “Not really, as long as I have my music organized.”

In her personal life, she likes yoga and is a strong swimmer (60-80 laps!) She reads a lot, and enjoys occasional movies.

How did we get so lucky at NSUC? Another pianist mentioned to her we were seeking an accompanist. She applied and auditioned with Alison. We are fortunate indeed.

Something I found charming was that during Covid when we held Zoom services, Catherine made a point of dressing in her formal gowns when she played for us!