Assistant Professor of Music
Dr. Diltz, a soprano, has performed a wide variety of classical and operatic repertoire. Praised by The New York Times as “a commanding presence, who brought a firm, focused tone and emotional depth to the arias Tom Cipullo gave her in Chelsea Opera’s production of Glory Denied,” Diltz later reprised her role as Older Alyce in eight performances with the Vulcan Opera Company in Philadelphia. Opera News called her performance of Tallulah Carter on Albany Records’ recording of Thomas Pasatieri’s The Hotel Casablanca “soaringly sung.”
Some of her solo oratorio and concert credits include the soprano solos in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C Minor, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Te Deum, Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Gorecki’s (Sorrowful Songs) Symphony No. 3 with the Adelphi Symphony Orchestra, and the tone-poem Luonnotar by Jean Sibelius which was performed with the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra (Ukraine 2019).
Diltz is a proud graduate of Midwestern State University. She earned her master’s degree from University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she was a member of the Knoxville Opera Studio, and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from University of Kentucky. Most recently, Diltz lived in New York City for 14 years. At Adelphi University, she taught all styles of singing, vocal pedagogy, jazz history and was the director of Adelphi Opera Theatre. She served on the Board of Directors for the NYC Chapter of The National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) for eight years and is a member of Opera America and the National Opera Association.
Diltz served as executive director of Opera Breve in New York City and Wichita Falls from 2012-2016. She has also served as program coordinator for the Harrower Summer Opera Festival (Atlanta) and as voice faculty and guest artist of the U Artists Music Festival in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2018 and 2019. Diltz is the founder and executive director of Red River Lyric Opera (RRLO), a summer young artist program in Wichita Falls. She was the guest artist for the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra Holiday Homecoming concert on December 10, 2022. Diltz steps into her new position at MSU following the retirement of her mentor and teacher, Don Maxwell, who served as professor of voice for 53 years and has inspired the careers of countless artists around the country. Maxwell was also the voice teacher of Diltz’s mother, Judy Diltz, who also retired from MSU in 2022.