Tobias Picker

Tobias Picker is an important composer who has adopted two quite different styles, one modern in sound, the other Romantic and often nostalgic. Although he has employed serial techniques in some of his output, most of his compositions are accessible, and many have enjoyed widespread popularity. Picker broke onto the music scene shortly after graduating with several highly successful premieres. As composer-in-residence for the Houston Symphony, Picker produced perhaps his most popular orchestral composition, Old and Lost Rivers. His first opera, Emmeline, was written in 1996, followed by Fantastic Mr. Fox, Thérèse Raquin, and An American Tragedy. In 2010, Picker founded Opera San Antonio. A 2014 recording of Fantastic Mr. Fox, issued in 2019, earned a Grammy Award. The premiere of Picker's sixth opera, Awakenings, with a libretto by his husband, Aryeh Lev Stollman, was scheduled for 2020 but was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.