Pianist Anthony Tobin

Middle left: Van Cliburn, Anthony Tobin, and Daniel Pollack after Cliburn's keynote speech at the MTNA National Convention in Austin, TX. Pollack and Cliburn both competed at the first International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow in 1958 and were students of Rosina Lhevinne.

Middle right: Director Jamie Babbit and Anthony Tobin after the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of "The Quiet" , released by Sony Pictures Classics, and on DVD. Watch the trailer in which Tobin plays part of the Beethoven Sonata Opus 49#1 in g minor.

Performance Highlights

The November 2009 tour of 7 cities in The Netherlands went very well! I am still processing the experiences. I have been invited back next year for another 2 week tour. I performed a few pieces by Imke Jelle van Dam, I showed several of my videos and music, and performed the music of Claude Debussy. You can watch Fireworks and Brouillards from The Hague, 11/30/2009, and the bottom video is scenes of Zwolle, NL, set to "Memory" by Imke Jelle:

January/February 2010 I will perform Debussy's four-hand work 6 Epigraphes antiques with Kiyoshi Tamagawa at Southwestern University as part of The Bilitis Project.

This is part of Debussy's Pagodes set to my video of Tokyo, as performed in Zeist, The Netherlands:

Piano Studio

I maintain a private piano studio in North Austin and teaches K-12 students at the Regents School of Austin. Tobin accepts students of all ages and levels on an ongoing basis. Listen to some of my students on YouTube. I welcome students of all ages and levels on an ongoing basis, from K-12 students including beginners, to college age and professional adults, from beginner to advanced levels. I invite your inquiry via email or tel: (512) 821-3828. I am happy to answer questions about philosophy, materials, techniques, and rates.

Debussy Project

The Debussy Documentary is now 45 minutes! After several screenings in Austin and The Hague I am deciding the next path for the film. The sample below is the first 11 minutes:

I am developing a website, documentary film, and lecture recital about the role of light, sense of place, and visual stimuli in Debussy's piano works. I interviewed pianists Daniel Pollack and Stewart Gordon about their perspectives on musical style and musicologists Roy Howat, James Briscoe, Marie Rolf, and Richard Langham Smith at the International Debussy Congress. January 2009 I interviewed Elliott Antokoletz and May 2009 Austin Symphony Conductor Peter Bay. Bay's discussion and demostration of elements of Impressionism in La Mer and singer Rose Taylor's performance of the song "Pan" from Chansons de Bilitis are very illuminating. Watch UT Professor Rose Taylor and I perform "The Flute of Pan" on Vladimir Horowitz' Piano April 5th:

Press

Tobin appeared with Flutist Seetha Shivaswamy on the Fox 7 Austin Morning Show. Read Chris Garcia's 7.19.2006 discussion of Tobin's work on "The Quiet" in the Austin Movie Blog. TV Guide Online refers to the "soulful piano playing". Tobin plays parts of the Appassionata, Opus 49#1, Les Adieux, and Opus 101 Sonatas.

Video Work

Tobin continues to film, edit, and produce short experimental films that chronicle life in the world's cities. Recent shorts include To the West, Pilatus, Luzern, Sunken Cathedral , Shinjuku, Tokyo Nights, and Tokyo Points. Tobin is editing an HD documentary film about Minami-Senju and the contrast between old and new in Tokyo. Below is a sample video combining Tokyo footage with piano improvisation: