Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, Theresa Dimond began her percussion studies with Mervin Britton. Upon moving to Los Angeles, California, she attended the University of Southern California where she studied with Ken Watson, earning a Bachelor of Music, Masters of Music, and Doctorate in Musical Arts in music performance. She also attended the Interlochen National Music Camp, the Aspen Music Festival, the Music Academy of the West, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute as a student. She has studied with Mitchell Peters (formerly of the Los Angeles Philharmonic), Niel DePonte (Oregon Symphony), F. Michael Combs (formerly of the University of Tennessee), and the late Charlie Owen (Philadelphia Orchestra).
Dr. Dimond is the principal percussionist of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra. She has been a member of the orchestra since its inception in 1985. In 2009, the LA Opera Orchestra won two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Classical Recording and Best Opera Recording for Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. This award-winning production was conducted by James Conlon and starred Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone. In 2016, the LA Opera Orchestra will release a recording of Corigliano’s opera, The Ghosts of Versailles.
As a free-lance musician in Los Angeles, Dr. Dimond has worked with every orchestral ensemble in the city, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. As well as her duties at LA Opera, she is principal percussionist of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Pasadena Symphony and principal timpanist of the Pasadena Pops, MUSE/IQUE, and the California Philharmonic. She has worked with many preeminent conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Michael Tilson Thomas, Jeffrey Kahane, Plácido Domingo, Herbert Blomstedt, Kent Nagano, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gustavo Dudamel, and James Conlon. A highlight of her career was performing with soprano Dawn Upshaw and members of the Boston Symphony on a contemporary music tour. Dr. Dimond has also appeared as soloist at the Aspen, Sun Valley and Tanglewood Summer Music Festivals.
Dr. Dimond serves on the faculties of the University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, Irvine, Pomona College, Whittier College, and Cerritos College. In 1998, she founded TouchDown Publications, a music publishing company which edits and publishes opera percussion parts.
One of a handful of experts on the cimbalom, a Hungarian hammered dulcimer, she has performed with Pierre Boulez, Lalo Schifrin, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kurt Masur, Dawn Upshaw, and Grant Gershon on that specialty instrument. Her recording credits include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Far from Heaven, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Rush Hour 3, Rocky V, and Edward Scissorhands, to name but a few.
Dr. Dimond makes her home in the Mt. Washington area of Los Angeles, with her husband, Jim, their dog, Monte, and their two cats, Tiggy and Widget.
