Tobias Picker

Tobias Picker ( born July 18, 1954 in New York, NY) is an American composer.

Life and work

Picker began composing at the age of eight years. His work includes compositions of all genres. For his work include four operas, three symphonies, three piano concertos, concertos for violin, viola and oboe, different songs, string quartets and chamber music. He has also recorded together with Ursula Oppens his piano piece "Keys of the City".

Picker was the Wall Street Journal as "America's best composer of lyrical works for the stage ," and by BBC Music Magazine honored as representatives of a " very soulful style that is one of the shining moments of the current music scene ". He has been ill for some time from Tourette's syndrome.

Awards and prizes

Until his 30th birthday he had already received a large number of prizes and awards, such as the BMI Student Composer Awards, the Bearns Pirze Columbia University, the Charles Ives Fellowship and a fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation. He was awarded the Music Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1992.