Tobias Picker

Tobias Picker, whose music has been described as “displaying a distinctively soulful style that is one of the glories of the current musical scene” by BBC Music Magazine and “a genuine creator with a fertile unforced vein of invention” by The New Yorker, has drawn performances and commissions by the world’s leading musicians, orchestras, and opera houses. His extensive discography includes the 2020 Grammy Award-winning “Best Opera Recording” of Fantastic Mr. Fox (BMOP Sound) and a recently released recording of his new work, Opera Without Words, paired with his melodrama, The Encantadas, performed by the Nashville Symphony (Naxos).Mr. Picker’s operas have been commissioned by Santa Fe Opera (Emmeline), LA Opera (Fantastic Mr. Fox), Dallas Opera (Thérèse Raquin), San Francisco Opera (Dolores Claiborne), and the Metropolitan Opera (An American Tragedy). Mr. Picker’s sixth opera, Awakenings, based on the novel by Oliver Sacks, will be premiered by Opera Theater of St. Louis in coming seasons. He has composed numerous symphonic works including three symphonies, concertos for violin, viola, cello, oboe; four piano concertos; and a ballet, Awakenings, commissioned by the Rambert Dance Company. Mr. Picker has received numerous awards and prizes and was elected to lifetime membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2012. Mr. Picker served as composer-in-residence of the Houston Symphony (1985-1990) and subsequently for the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and the Pacific Music Festival. Mr. Picker was born in New York City in 1954. He studied composition with Charles Wuorinen, Elliott Carter, and Milton Babbitt, and received his BM degree from Manhattan School of Music, MM degree from Juilliard, and MFA from Princeton University. He has served as Artistic Director or Tulsa Opera since 2016. His music is published exclusively by Schott Music.