Tobias Delius

Delius was born in Oxford, England, on 15 July 1964.^[1] His mother was German and his father was Argentine.^[2] Delius was brought up largely in England and Germany.^[1] He switched from clarinet to tenor saxophone at the age of sixteen, and played with local bands.^[1]

Delius played in Mexico for eight months before joining the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam in 1984.^[1] He did not complete his studies there, which included lessons with Misha Mengelberg and Paul Stocker, but developed his reputation with improvisers in the area.^[1] He joined Available Jelly in 1989, Trio San Francisco and other bands that included Daniele D'Agaro and Sean Bergin in 1992, and toured with Louis Moholo in 1992–93.^[1] He also co-founded a quartet with Han Bennink, Larry Fishkind and Tristan Honsinger in 1990.^[1] Fishkind was later replaced by Joe Williamson in this band,^[2] which employs a "method of improvising suites utilizing written themes introduced democratically by any member".^[3]

Delius was awarded the 2003 VPRO/Boy Edgar Award.^[4] In 2023, his duo with Christian Lillinger received the Instant Award in Improvised Music along with Tristan Honsinger.^[5] In 2025, he was awarded the 2025 Jazzpreis Berlin.^[6]