NEWS

Tobias Picker's Suite for Cello and Piano in World Choreographic Premiere

Tobias Picker's Suite for Cello and Piano receives its choreographic premiere on April 26 and 27, 2008 at New York's Dicapo Opera Theatre. The new Ballet, entitled Seguiti (Moving On), features choreography by rising choreographer Dario Vaccaro who remarks, "Seguiti reveals the moments when change becomes a necessity. The dancers disengage themselves from reality to unveil the lonely truth of desire." The music to the suite will be performed by cellist Caroline Stinson and pianist Simon Mulligan.

Commissioned for Lynn Harrell by a consortium including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Ravinia Festival and San Francisco Performances, the Suite for Cello and Piano received its world premiere by Lynn Harrell and Simon Mulligan at San Francisco's Herbst Theater as part of the music series San Francisco Performances in 1998. Picker then adapted the music from the suite for his Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, commissioned by the BBC Proms and premiered at Royal Albert Hall in 2001 by the conductor David Robertson with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and cellist Paul Watkins. The Suite for Cello and Piano will be available at music stores everywhere this summer in a new Edition Schott version, edited by Lynn Harrell and Simon Mulligan (ED 30004).

Dicapo Opera Theatre Presents "The Music of Tobias Picker"

On Saturday, February 2, Dicapo Opera Theatre will present "The Music of Tobias Picker," a concert of scenes and arias from all four of the composer's operas—Emmeline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Thérèse Raquin, and An American Tragedy. This is the first presentation of Mr. Picker's music at Dicapo since he joined the company as Artistic Advisor last season, following Dicapo’s widely praised production of Thérèse Raquin in the opera's New York premiere.

The scenes and arias will be performed by the young singers in Dicapo’s Resident Artists program. In addition to his counsel on repertoire and artistic planning, Mr. Picker has been working with the Resident Artists in developing their craft. For the February 2 program, Mr. Picker selected each of the singers and is personally coaching them for this performance. Accompanying the singers on February 2 will be British pianist/composer Simon Mulligan.

"The Music of Tobias Picker" will take place at Dicapo Opera Theatre located on the lower level of St. Jean Baptiste Church at 184 East 76th Street at Lexington Avenue. Tickets are $25 and are available at the Dicapo Opera Theatre box office or by calling 212-288-9438, Ext. 10.

Tobias Picker Featured in Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks

In his new book Musicophilia, renowned neurologist and author Oliver Sacks provides detailed accounts of people with peculiar aural afflictions in an effort to contribute to our understanding of music and further illustrate the workings of the human mind. One such case he uses to illustrate this purpose involves our own Tobias Picker. Though he lives with Tourette's Syndrome, Dr. Sacks notes that Mr. Picker can still write in every mode, and can shift between compositional styles with consummate ease. Mr. Picker tells Dr. Sacks that the syndrome has shaped his imagination, "I live my life controlled by Tourette's but use music to control it. I have harnessed its energy - I play with it, manipulate it, trick it, mimic it, taunt it, explore it, exploit it, in every possible way."

Please visit www.nytimes.com to read Michiko Kakutani's review of Musicophilia.

Please check back here for further details, as they become available.

Ursula Oppens Records Tobias Picker's Complete Works for Piano

Tobias Picker and Ursula Oppens have been at work on another collaboration in which Oppens performs the composer's complete works for solo piano on a recording for the Wergo label, set for release in spring of 2008. A new publication from Schott of the composer's complete solo piano music will be available at the same time.

Please check back here for further details, as they become available.

Tobias Picker and Ursula Oppens Give NY Premiere of Keys to the City Two-Piano Version

Tobias Picker joins pianist Ursula Oppens on stage this month as the duo perform the New York premiere of Picker's Keys to the City in its two piano version. Originally composed for piano and orchestra in 1983, Keys to the City was commissioned by the City of New York in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge. Picker performed as the pianist with the Brooklyn Philharmonic at its festive world premiere after which the New York Times remarked that, "Keys to the City is an exuberant, celebratory evocation... eighteen minutes of irrepressible energy and cosmopolitan eclecticism." The performance is part of Ms. Oppens' recital at Steinway Hall which also includes works of Milhaud and Mozart.

The New York Premiere of the two-piano version of Keys to the City will take place in New York's Steinway Hall, on October 15, 2007 at 6:30 PM.

Tobias Picker's An American Tragedy on Sirius Satellite Radio

The Metropolitan Opera's performance of Tobias Picker's An American Tragedy is broadcast on Metropolitan Opera Radio on Sirius Satellite Radio this week on Friday September 28 and Saturday September 29, 2007 at 6:00 am and 6:00 pm, respectively. The broadcast will be of the December 24, 2005 performance during its world premiere run at the Met. James Conlon conducts, as Patricia Racette, Susan Graham and Nathan Gunn star in this story of love, money and murder. Sirius Satellite Radio is broadcast throughout the United States and Canada. Keep an eye on the Metropolitan Opera Radio for future broadcasts of An American Tragedy.

The Schedule for Metropolitan Opera Radio on Sirius Satellite Radio can be found here.

Tobias Picker Named Artistic Advisor to Dicapo Opera Theatre

Dicapo Opera Theatre has announced the appointment of composer Tobias Picker to the position of Artistic Advisor, beginning in the 2007-08 season. Mr. Picker enjoyed a successful collaboration with Dicapo last season as the theatre premiered the chamber version of his opera Thérèse Raquin to critical acclaim. As Artistic Advisor to Dicapo, Mr. Picker will provide direction on repertoire expansion and commissions in addition to overall artistic planning. Michael Capasso, Dicapo's General Director, comments on the appointment:

"In the past several years, we have been adding more contemporary music to our schedule and had an especially positive response to this season's Thérèse Raquin performances, so we are delighted that Tobias Picker is joining us here at Dicapo."

Among Dicapo's offerings this season will be two concerts of the music of Tobias Picker. The first, which will take place on Saturday, February 2, 2008, will be a program of scenes and arias from Picker's operas Emmeline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Thérèse Raquin and An American Tragedy and will also include the world premiere of a new work. The second concert on Thursday, May 1, 2008, will feature acclaimed Metropolitan Opera Mezzo-soprano Kirstin Chavez presenting songs and arias by Tobias Picker in a preview of her upcoming recording for Koch Classics. In future seasons, Dicapo Opera Theatre will present a cycle of all of Mr. Picker's operas. The composer had this to say on his appointment:

"I am very excited to be working with Michael Capasso in helping to make New York City's third full-time opera company into a world-class operation and looking forward to a future when Dicapo Opera Theatre becomes noted for being at the cutting edge of presenting major New York and U.S. world premieres."

To learn more about Dicapo Opera Theatre, please go to www.dicapo.com.

Tobias Picker's Piano Works Featured in Ursula Oppens Recital

Three of Mr. Picker’s scores were arrangements of works for larger forces. “Where the Rivers Go,” based on a section of his 1996 opera, “Emmeline,” is suffused with a neo-Romanticism that evokes the opera’s 19th-century New England setting. Yet stripped of its orchestral coloration, the music has a sharper, more contemporary edge. The short, involving “Old and Lost Rivers” (1986), originally a symphonic score, matches an angular, range-jumping melody to a nonstop vigorous counterpoint. And “The Blue Hula” (1982), arranged from a similarly propulsive chamber piece, draws on jazz and stride piano moves.

Many currents in these three works come together in “Four Études for Ursula” (1997), Ms. Oppens’s closing piece. Calling them études seems wrong; these are character pieces as vivid as the others, and they don’t seem calibrated to particular technical challenges. Not that they make no demands. The first is as freewheeling and rhythmically vital as “The Blue Hula.” Another sounds almost French in spirit, with an undercurrent of early Stravinsky; the last two dance between lyricism and muscularity.

Ms. Oppens has been performing Mr. Picker’s music since the mid-1970’s, when he was just out of the conservatory, and she was the pianist in Speculum Musicae. These technically spiky, picturesque works suit her, and her imaginative use of the piano’s color and dynamics made a persuasive case for them.

Tobias Picker Highlighted in Cutting Edge Concert at Symphony Space

On April 30 Tobias Picker’s music features in the closing concert of Cutting Edge Concerts' 2007 season. Responsible for the conception of the series, composer and conductor Victoria Bond comments:

“This year's Cutting Edge Concerts focus on the relationship between composers and weavers and is called 'A Tapestry of Sound.' There are many similarities between these two art forms, and in addition to color, texture and design, composers, like weavers, thread musical motives from one work to another. Tobias Picker's music, as represented on the April 23rd program, exemplifies the transformation of an idea from one form to another. The seminal work here is his Suite for Cello and Piano, which generated three arias for his opera Thérèse Raquin, as well as a set of piano etudes. On the April 23rd concert, Tobias and I will be discussing the relationship between the Suite for Cello and Piano and the works it generated, and first listen to a movement from the suite and then the corresponding music of the arias and the etude, alternating back and forth from one into the other.

“As Tobias is primarily known for his operatic output, it is significant to bring attention to his chamber music, especially as it has served as such an important source of ideas.  We are also particularly honored to have pianist Ken Noda on the program, performing Pickers' Old and Lost Rivers.  The tapestries of weavers Susan Martin Maffei and Archie Brennan will be projected during the performances.”

For more information about Tobias Picker, please visit www.schott-music.com or www.tobiaspicker.com.

For more details about Cutting Edge Concerts at Symphony Space, please visit www.symphonyspace.org.

New York Premiere of Thérèse Raquin at Dicapo Opera Theatre

The Dicapo Opera Theatre will present the New York premiere of Tobias Picker's opera, Thérèse Raquin, in a new production on February  16 through 25, 2007. This production marks the fifth production the opera has received since it was premiered by the Dallas Opera in 2001. It features the chamber orchestra version created by the composer for the European Premiere at the Royal Opera House Linbury Theatre in March 2006. For further information on the opera itself, click here.

The production is under Steven Osgood's baton, and performers include Audrey Babcock,  Beverly O'Regan Thiele, David Adam Moore, Zeffin Quinn Hollis, Brian Stucki, and Peter Furlong.    For more information about the production, or to order tickets, click here.

Bridge Records Releases Songs and Encores Featuring Songs of Tobias Picker

Bridge Records has released "Songs and Encores" featuring several songs of Tobias Picker sung by soprano Judith Bettina.  The Picker selections included on the new disc are Native Trees and To The Insects, on texts of W. S. Merwin; Half a Year Together on a text by Richard Howard; When We Meet Again, a setting of Edna St. Vincent Millay; and not even the rain on a text of e. e. cummings.

Ms. Bettina, accompanied on this recording by her husband, pianist James Goldsworthy, comments, "these songs have been a journey; a journey that I have been honored to be part of.  Each song is a landscape of longing and love that touch the heart."

For a link to excerpts, and to purchase the recording, visit our Recordings page.

Concert version of "The Letter Aria" from An American Tragedy premieres in San Francisco

The world premiere performance of the concert version of An American Tragedy's The Letter Aria will take place in San Francisco on June 22, 2006, as part of the San Francisco Opera Three Divas concert. Soprano Patricia Racette will perform, with Donald Runnicles conducting. The concert is open to donors only.

Tobias Picker's Thérèse Raquin in London Debut

Tobias Picker's new chamber opera version of Thérèse Raquin saw its world premiere in March at the Linbury Studio of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Based on the Émile Zola novel of the same name, the high drama was accentuated by Picker's searing musical score. The Evening Standard noted "music of real tension and variety," with which Picker "declare[d] his full and effective compositional hand."

Lee Blakeley directed a first-rate ensemble cast in the debut performances of his new opera company, Opera Theatre Europe. Tim Redmond conducted. A tour is planned with dates and venues to be announced.

Tobias Picker Signs Exclusive Contract with Schott Helicon Music Corporation (BMI)

For Immediate Release

Schott Helicon Music Corporation (BMI), the U.S. publishing affiliate of the Schott Music International group is proud to announce the signing of Tobias Picker to its composer roster. Mr. Picker is the first American composer to be signed by Schott following the establishment of its New York publishing office earlier this year. In an already momentous season for the composer, Tobias Picker's complete catalogue of works will now be available for the first time throughout the world exclusively from Schott Music International. Called "our finest composer for the lyric stage" by the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Picker is universally renowned as one of the great figures of contemporary music and his recent works have been praised as "glories of the musical scene" by BBC Music Magazine.

Tobias Picker has composed a great range of music in all genres and consistently draws performances by the world's leading conductors, soloists, orchestras, and opera houses.

Schott Helicon Music Corporation (BMI) is the American arm of Schott Musik International, one of the world's oldest and most distinguished music publishing houses. Founded in 1770 in Mainz, Germany, the company's early history was highlighted by its publications of the piano scores and first editions of Mozart's Don Giovanni and Die Entführung aus dem Serail. These were soon followed by the major late works of Ludwig van Beethoven, including the Ninth Symphony, the Missa Solemnis and the last two string quartets and the first publications of Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, the complete Ring des Nibelungen and Parsifal.

For more information about Tobias Picker at Schott Helicon Music Corporation (BMI), click here.

In North America, rental and licensing inquiries for Schott works should be directed to: Schott Helicon Music Corporation (BMI), 35 East 21st Street, Floor 8, New York, NY, 10010, ny@schott-music.com. Schott sales publications are distributed exclusively by The Hal Leonard Corporation, 7777 W. Bluemound Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53213.

First Annual Opera News Awards

Tickets Now on Sale for Metropolitan Opera World Premiere of An American Tragedy

With the December 2 world premiere of Tobias Picker's An American Tragedy, commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera, fast approaching, you may visit the Met's An American Tragedy website for photos and details about the story behind the opera, the cast, the creative team, and the production.

To see the schedule of performance dates and to buy tickets, click here.

For more information and press quotes about An American Tragedy, click here.

Opera News Features Tobias Picker in Cover Article

Tobias Picker appears on the cover of Opera News' August 2005 issue, and is featured in a full-length article inside the magazine.

The article is a portrait of how the composer came to the genre of opera, and includes an overview of previous projects, including his works Emmeline, Thérèse Raquin, and Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Brian Kellow writes, "In all his operas, Picker shows a keen dramatic sense...Picker did not write his first song until 1984...He was thirty then, a long way from being ready to write his first opera. To him, the world of opera was "a distant mountain."...A little more than a decade later, he took the plunge, and he has been immersed in the world of opera ever since..."

To read the entire article, visit the Opera News website, or your local book and magazine dealer.

Home | Biography | Works | Recordings | Contact | Photo Gallery