Biography
Tobias Picker stands among notable composers whose output reflects two contrasting idioms—one distinctly contemporary in texture, the other lyrical and often wistful. While serial methods appear in portions of his catalog, the bulk of his works remain approachable and have reached wide audiences.
Born in New York on July 18, 1954, Picker began piano study in 1962, the year he also initiated an exchange of letters with Gian Carlo Menotti that offered the young musician steady encouragement. Three years afterward he entered the preparatory division of the Juilliard School of Music for training in piano and theory. Rapid advancement led him, in 1972, to the Manhattan School of Music, where Charles Wuorinen guided his composition lessons and John Corigliano oversaw his work in orchestration. Following his 1976 graduation he pursued further composition study with Elliott Carter at Juilliard.
Picker quickly gained attention in New York through several acclaimed first performances, among them the 1977 premiere of Sextet No. 3, commissioned and played by Speculum Musicae, and the 1978 debut of his Rhapsody for violin and piano. Two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships followed, awarded in 1980 and again in 1982. A trio of substantial premieres occurred in 1983, one of them the San Francisco Symphony’s account of Symphony No. 1 under Edo de Waart. In 1985 the Houston Symphony named him composer-in-residence; during that tenure he completed what is arguably his best-known orchestral score, Old and Lost Rivers (1986). He left the Houston post in 1990 yet continued to receive commissions, including Bang! for piano and orchestra from the New York Philharmonic in 1992.
By the 1990s his music had begun circulating internationally. Encantadas (1983), scored for actor and orchestra to texts by Herman Melville, reached Tokyo in a Houston Symphony performance led by Christoph Eschenbach. That same year he assumed the role of composer-in-residence at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo. His scores appeared regularly on programs in other leading cities worldwide. Menotti had urged him, during their early correspondence, to turn to opera; in 1996 Picker fulfilled that suggestion with Emmeline, commissioned by the Santa Fe Opera, which presented the world premiere. The following year the opera aired on the PBS Great Performances series and was recorded by Albany Records. Picker maintained his focus on the genre, producing the comic opera Fantastic Mr. Fox for the Los Angeles Opera and Thérèse Raquin, introduced by the Dallas Opera in 2001. The Metropolitan Opera commissioned his fourth opera, An American Tragedy, which received its premiere in 2005.
Although opera now occupied much of his attention, Picker sustained activity in other mediums. The American String Quartet commissioned and first performed his String Quartet No. 2 in 2009. That year he also wrote Three Nocturnes for Ursula, dedicated, like his earlier Four Etudes for Ursula, to pianist Ursula Oppens. In 2010 he established Opera San Antonio and composed the ballet Awakenings, drawing on Oliver Sacks’ book. He served as artistic director of Opera San Antonio from its inception until 2015, when he assumed the same post at Tulsa Opera. A 2014 recording of Fantastic Mr. Fox by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Odyssey Opera was released in 2019 and received the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. Picker returned to Sacks’ material for his sixth opera, Awakenings, setting a libretto by his husband, Aryeh Lev Stollman, whom he married in 2016.
Born in New York on July 18, 1954, Picker began piano study in 1962, the year he also initiated an exchange of letters with Gian Carlo Menotti that offered the young musician steady encouragement. Three years afterward he entered the preparatory division of the Juilliard School of Music for training in piano and theory. Rapid advancement led him, in 1972, to the Manhattan School of Music, where Charles Wuorinen guided his composition lessons and John Corigliano oversaw his work in orchestration. Following his 1976 graduation he pursued further composition study with Elliott Carter at Juilliard.
Picker quickly gained attention in New York through several acclaimed first performances, among them the 1977 premiere of Sextet No. 3, commissioned and played by Speculum Musicae, and the 1978 debut of his Rhapsody for violin and piano. Two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships followed, awarded in 1980 and again in 1982. A trio of substantial premieres occurred in 1983, one of them the San Francisco Symphony’s account of Symphony No. 1 under Edo de Waart. In 1985 the Houston Symphony named him composer-in-residence; during that tenure he completed what is arguably his best-known orchestral score, Old and Lost Rivers (1986). He left the Houston post in 1990 yet continued to receive commissions, including Bang! for piano and orchestra from the New York Philharmonic in 1992.
By the 1990s his music had begun circulating internationally. Encantadas (1983), scored for actor and orchestra to texts by Herman Melville, reached Tokyo in a Houston Symphony performance led by Christoph Eschenbach. That same year he assumed the role of composer-in-residence at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo. His scores appeared regularly on programs in other leading cities worldwide. Menotti had urged him, during their early correspondence, to turn to opera; in 1996 Picker fulfilled that suggestion with Emmeline, commissioned by the Santa Fe Opera, which presented the world premiere. The following year the opera aired on the PBS Great Performances series and was recorded by Albany Records. Picker maintained his focus on the genre, producing the comic opera Fantastic Mr. Fox for the Los Angeles Opera and Thérèse Raquin, introduced by the Dallas Opera in 2001. The Metropolitan Opera commissioned his fourth opera, An American Tragedy, which received its premiere in 2005.
Although opera now occupied much of his attention, Picker sustained activity in other mediums. The American String Quartet commissioned and first performed his String Quartet No. 2 in 2009. That year he also wrote Three Nocturnes for Ursula, dedicated, like his earlier Four Etudes for Ursula, to pianist Ursula Oppens. In 2010 he established Opera San Antonio and composed the ballet Awakenings, drawing on Oliver Sacks’ book. He served as artistic director of Opera San Antonio from its inception until 2015, when he assumed the same post at Tulsa Opera. A 2014 recording of Fantastic Mr. Fox by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Odyssey Opera was released in 2019 and received the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. Picker returned to Sacks’ material for his sixth opera, Awakenings, setting a libretto by his husband, Aryeh Lev Stollman, whom he married in 2016.
Albums
