Anthony O'Toole

Anthony O'Toole (b. 1988) is a young composer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His compositions are fresh, harmonically interesting and rhymically intense. Blending many styles and techniques into his own music, his music often shows elements of Jazz, Pop and other genres. As a 23 year-old composer he has a diverse musical background and is rather prolific and shows his compositional versatility by writing for solo instruments, quartets and chamber ensembles to orchestras, wind ensemble and chorus with orchestra.

He began at age 6 when he started piano lessons and also began studying percussion. As a percussionists he excelled greatly studying with the best percussionist in the Philadelphia area and eventually performing alongside them in orchestras, bands, and pit orchestras. At age 14 he began composing seriously and studying theory. At age 17 he had written 13 pieces ranging from piano pieces, percussion duets, an overture for wind ensemble and a full scale concerto for Timpani and Orchestra. Also while in high school he began learning other instruments including viola, tuba, trombone, saxophone, voice and clarinet. Anthony has also had lessons with and attended lectures with Cindy McTee, Richard Danielpour, Frank Ticheli, George Crumb, Drew Hemenger, Christopher Marshall, Martin Blessinger, Christopher Cook, Nancy Galbraith and Pavel Mihelcic.

After high school he attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he studied Music Theory and Composition with Daniel Perlongo and Jack Stamp. He also studied Tuba with Gary Bird and Zach Collins, Piano with Nicolo Sartori and Judith Radell, Counterpoint with James Staples, and orchestration with David Martynuik. Within a year he became frequently commissioned and performed on recitals and university concerts. From these commissions came 6 concertos (for Trombone, Euphonium, Euphonium and Alto Saxophone, Violin and Trombone, and 2 for tuba). Both his (first) Concerto for Tuba and his Concerto for Euphonium were premiered in their wind ensemble edition by the IUP Wind Ensemble with Dr. Zach Collins (tubist, instructor of tuba and euphonium at IUP) and Mike Waddell (euphoniumist, fellow student). Both of these compositions are featured in the GIA publication “Teaching Music through Performance in Band: Solos with Wind Band Accompaniment.” In his junior year he had over a dozen of his chamber works published and his senior year was commissioned by the National Ocean University of Taiwan Wind Ensemble.
He is also highly active as an orchestrator and arranger. His marching band arrangements can be heard across the country performed by some of the best bands and his arrangements have contributed to many winning seasons and accolades.

He currently composes full time, teaches theory, composition, and arranging/orchestration and also freelances as a musician for ensembles in the Pittsburgh area.