The daughter of a European composer and a Great American Songbook singer, pianist/composer Roberta Piket is one of a handful of New York musicians who is respected for both her swinging and inventive straight-ahead jazz playing as well as her powerful and sensitive work in creative improvised music. For Roberta, there are no genre boundaries, only the opportunity to make exceptional music.
Roberta’s father was the Austrian composer Frederick Piket, whose works were performed by the New York Philharmonic under famed conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos. (The elder Piket, who passed away when Roberta was eight, is also renowned for his significant contribution to the musical liturgy of reform Judaism.)
From her mother, Roberta learned by ear the tunes of Porter, Gershwin, Kern, Rodgers, and Berlin (as well as accompanying lyrics).
In her early teens, a chance encounter with a classic Muse LP rescued from a flea market changed the course of Roberta’s life.
More about Roberta’s Story
Photography by John Abbott
