A Berklee graduate who premiered his first opus with the NC Symphony while also helming the sweeping chamber-pop band Lost in the Trees, Ari Picker fuses bracing modernist strings with generous indie melodies. A musical vision that overflows indie recordings and nightclubs was fully realized at Duke Performances, where Picker bolstered his core folk- rock band with the New Music Raleigh Chamber Orchestra — 12 strings, harp, piano, and percussion — in an ample, resonant hall.

Lost in the Trees’ 2012 record, A Church That Fits Our Needs, addresses the suicide of Picker’s mother with a “stirring blend of modest rusticity and urbane ambition” (New York Times). His vulnerable tenor and towering arrangements elevate this sensitive material to devastating heights. For the first time, on December 7, 2012 at Reynolds Industries Theater, the audience heard the music as it sounded in Picker’s head, underwritten with a lush chamber orchestra.