Born in San José, Costa Rica, Diana Ramírez, M.M., is a freelancer in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex area. She is a newly appointed member of the Abilene Philharmonic to participate in their 2019-2020 season. Ms. Ramírez graduated from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, where she earned a Master of Music in violin performance. She was a fellow of the acclaimed Henry Mancini Institute from 2015-2017. With this ensemble, she had the opportunity to collaborate with pianist and improvisor Ben Folds, film composers Jeff Beal and James Newton Howard, and has appeared in performances conducted by Chris Walden and John Williams. 

She was a member of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica (National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica) from 2013-2019, and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Costa Rica from 2008-2018. 

In addition to her professional musical experiences, she has participated in numerous prestigious music festivals, such as YOA Orchestra of the Americas (2010, 2017), Música en Compostela, Spain (2014), Sewanee Summer Music Festival, Tennessee (2013), FEMUSC, Brazil (2013), and Interlochen Arts Camp, Michigan (2007). 

Besides her orchestral experience, Diana and her husband, bassoonist Dr. Brian McKee co-founded TransAmerican Duo, an emerging bassoon and violin chamber ensemble committed to new music in collaboration with contemporary composers, as well as community outreach and teaching. 

As a teacher, Diana has given masterclasses at Instituto Baccarelli, Brazil, as well as SINEM Miramar and SINEM Nicoya, both in Costa Rica. She has also been an instructor at EMUSA, Heredia, and Escuela Municipal de La Unión, Costa Rica. She is currently a faculty member of Accent Music Academy in Frisco, TX. She also expects to open her private studio in Denton, Texas in 2020. 

Diana has recorded CDs with Orquesta Filarmónica de Costa Rica, National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica, and Jorge Mejía with the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, whose album An Open Book: 25 Preludes for Piano and Orchestra was recently nominated for a 2018 Latin Grammy. 

Diana also holds a Post-Baccalaureate in Pedagogy and Violin Performance from Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica (2014) and her bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance from Universidad Estatal a Distancia, Costa Rica (2013). Her primary teachers and mentors include Charles Castleman, Karen Lord- Powell, Scott Flavin, José Aurelio Castillo, Patricia González, and Tetsuo Yagi. 

Aside from her musical education, Diana enjoys experimental cooking, traveling, making impressions, salsa dancing, and writing.