Born on April 18, 1982, Dennis M. Tobenski grew up in Kankakee, IL. In 2004, he graduated from
Illinois State University, where he studied Vocal Performance with baritone John M. Koch, and Music Theory & Composition with Stephen Andrew Taylor, David Feurzeig and Serra Hwang. After graduating from ISU in 2004, he was invited to move to New York City to study privately with composer
Daron Hagen. Tobenski was commissioned by the ISU School of Theatre to compose music for Shakespeare's
The Tempest: the inaugural production of the newly constructed Center for the Performing Arts, which led him to write for several subsequent School of Theatre mainstage productions. These included
Bertolt Brecht's
The Caucasian Chalk Circle,
Frank McGuinness' adaptation of Sophocles’
Electra. The ISU College of Fine Arts commissioned the 2002
Elegy, a work for choir and chamber ensemble commemorating the events of September 11, 2001, and the 2004
Soliloquy for solo flute. Tobenski was commissioned in 2002 by baritone John M. Koch (whose 1996 performance of
Il barbiere di Siviglia with the
Florentine Opera was broadcast on PBS) to write
Three Poems of Thomas Hardy. He later wrote music for the 2004 Chicago production of
The Living Canvas, a performance art work for theatre that combines movement and dance with photographed images projected on the unclothed human form. He has written numerous works for the ISU Madrigal Singers, including
Fair Robin I Love, a work commissioned for the 50th Anniversary Season of the ISU Madrigal Dinners –- the oldest tradition of its kind in the Midwest. Along with composer
Jeff Algera, in April 2006, he co-founded the Tobenski-Algera Concert Series, a series devoted to the performance and promotion of new works by young and emerging composers. In 2007, Tobenski began graduate study in composition at the
City College of New York with composer
David Del Tredici. As of March 2006, he resides in New York City. ==Vocal career==