Maria Schneider (musician)


Maria Lynn Schneider is an American composer and jazz orchestra leader who has won multiple Grammy Awards.

Biography

Born in Windom, Minnesota, Schneider studied music theory and composition at the University of Minnesota, graduating in 1983, then earned a master's degree in Music in 1985 from the Eastman School of Music, studying for one year as well at the University of Miami. After leaving Eastman, she was hired by Gil Evans as his copyist and assistant.
She collaborated with Evans for the next few years, working with him on music for a tour with Sting and assisting him as he scored the film The Color of Money. Before she became one of the most acclaimed composers and bandleaders of her generation, Schneider received an NEA Apprenticeship Grant to study with Bob Brookmeyer in 1985.
In 1988, Schneider formed her first band in collaboration with her then-husband, jazz trombonist John Fedchock, and that group appeared at Visiones in Greenwich Village. Both that group and her marriage would dissolve, but Schneider followed up in 1992 by forming the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, which would appear weekly at Visiones from 1993 until the venue closed in 1998. Albums by the group have been released as by the Maria Schneider Orchestra since 2000.
Since 2005, the Maria Schneider Orchestra has performed an annual Thanksgiving week-long gig at the Jazz Standard in New York City. The orchestra has also performed at jazz festivals and concert halls in Europe, South America, and Asia. Schneider has performed with over 80 groups in over 30 countries and has taught at universities worldwide. In 2013, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Minnesota.
Although three of the orchestra's albums had been previously nominated, Schneider's Concert in the Garden was the first to win a Grammy Award. It was also the first such award-winning album produced by ArtistShare, a fan funded platform that has received 30 Grammy Award nominations and 10 Grammy Award wins.
Aside from her jazz orchestral works, Schneider's Winter Morning Walks album featured soprano Dawn Upshaw, the Saint Paul and Australian Chamber Orchestras, bassist Jay Anderson, pianist Frank Kimbrough, and multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson. The album accompanied poetry written by U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser and was funded by ArtistShare. It won Schneider a Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. Dawn Upshaw also won a Grammy for her vocal performance, while the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Classical award went to David Frost, Tim Martyn, and Brian Losch.

Advocacy for musicians

Schneider has been a strong advocate for musicians' rights and copyright. She has testified before Congress, and has been asked to participate in several round tables conducted by the United States Copyright Office. Schneider has been outspoken against YouTube and so-called "freemium" streaming models. She has published several open letters and white papers on these topics.
Schneider has been a board member of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences for the New York local chapter and has been involved in many of the NARAS advocacy initiatives, including Grammys on the Hill. In April 2014, on behalf of NARAS, Schneider testified on Section 512 of Section 17 before the House Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet.
Schneider's advocacy against big data companies and their impact on music, culture and privacy is reflected in some of her compositions of the late 2010s, including pieces entitled "Data Lords", commissioned by the U.S. Library of Congress ; "Don't Be Evil"; and "Sputnik". Several of these compositions appeared on the 2020 album Data Lords.

Personal life

Schneider is an avid birdwatcher and enlisted band members to contribute bird calls to "Cerulean Skies" on her album Sky Blue. Other bird-related songs on her albums include "Waxwing" on Coming About, "Bird Count" on Days of Wine and Roses, and "Arbiters of Evolution" on The Thompson Fields.

Awards and honors