Roberta Piket

Born in Queens, New York, Roberta inherited a passion for music from both her parents. Her father was the Austrian composer Frederick Piket, who made significant contributions to both the musical liturgy of Reform Judaism and the concert hall with works performed by the New York Philharmonic under conductor Dimitri Metropolis. From her mother, Cynthia, she absorbed the glories of the American Songbook, learning the tunes (and accompanying lyrics) of Porter, Gershwin, Kern, Rodgers, and Berlin. Roberta attended the joint five-year double-degree program at Tufts University and New England Conservatory, graduating with a degree in computer science at the former and a degree in jazz piano from the latter. After a year as a software engineer, she returned to New York to pursue her musical calling, and an NEA grant set her up to study with pianist Richie Beirach. Piket made her recording debut on an album by jazz legend Lionel Hampton. Around the same time, Marian McPartland heard her at the Thelonious Monk Composers Competition and invited her to appear on NPR’s Piano Jazz, Piket’s first of three appearances on the show. Piket occasionally performs on B-3 organ, leads her own groups at Smalls and Mezzrow, and tours internationally. In recent years she’s focused particularly on solo piano performance as well as continuing her work with her trio and sextet.