Maria Lynn Schneider (born November 27, 1960) is an American composer and

jazz orchestra A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

leader who has won multiple Grammy Awards.

Biography

Born in

Windom, Minnesota Windom is a city in and the county seat of Cottonwood County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,798 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Cottonwood County and is situated in the Coteau des Prairies. Although a mostly s ...

, Schneider studied music theory and composition at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, graduating in 1983, then earned a master's degree in Music in 1985 from the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

, studying for one year as well at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

. After leaving Eastman, she was hired by

Gil Evans Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian Americans, Canadian–American jazz pianist, Music arranger, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators i ...

as his

copyist A copyist is a person who makes duplications of the same thing. The modern use of the term is mainly confined to music copyists, who are employed by the music industry to produce neat copies from a composer or arranger's manuscript. However, the ...

and assistant. She collaborated with Evans for the next few years, working with him on music for a tour with

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

and assisting him as he scored the film ''

The Color of Money ''The Color of Money'' is a 1986 American Sports film, sports Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is the sequel to the 1961 film ''The Hustler''. Like the previous film, ''The Color of Money'' is based on a ...

''. 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 Robert Edward "Bob" Brookmeyer (December 19, 1929 – December 15, 2011) was an American jazz valve trombone, valve trombonist, Jazz piano, pianist, arranger, and composer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public ...

in 1985. In 1988, Schneider formed her first band in collaboration with jazz trombonist

John Fedchock John William Fedchock (born September 18, 1957) is an American jazz trombonist, bandleader, and arranger. Early life and education Fedchock was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He studied at Ohio State University and the Eastman School of Music at th ...

, her husband at the time, and that group appeared at Visiones in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

. 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. From 2005 through 2019, the Maria Schneider Orchestra performed an annual Thanksgiving week-long gig at the

Jazz Standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. 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 ''Concert in the Garden'' is the fourth studio album by American jazz composer Maria Schneider. The album was released in 2004 by ArtistShare and won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2005. In 2019, the album was selected ...

'' (2004) was the first to win a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

. It was also the first such award-winning album produced by

ArtistShare ArtistShare is the internet's first commercial crowdfunding website.Crowd-Funding 101: What Every Musician Needs for a Successful Campaign It also operates as a record label and business model for artists which enables them to fund their proje ...

, a fan funded platform that has (as of 2017) received 30 Grammy Award nominations and 10 Grammy Award wins. The orchestra has since won additional Grammy Awards for the large-ensemble jazz albums

The Thompson Fields ''The Thompson Fields'' is an album by the Maria Schneider Orchestra that won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2017. Schneider was the composer, conductor, and co-producer of the autobiographical work. The title comes fro ...

and

Data Lords ''Data Lords'' is a large-ensemble jazz album by the Maria Schneider Orchestra that was released in 2020. Summary The tracks of the album are thematically organized in two sections, which the liner notes call "a story of two worlds" and are mu ...

, while Schneider receive Grammy Awards for individual compositions on the albums

Sky Blue Sky blue refers to a collection of shades comparable to that of a clear daytime sky. Typically it is a shade of cyan or light teal, though some iterations are closer to light Azure (color), azure or light blue. The term (as "sky blew") is atte ...

and

. The orchestra performed a 30th anniversary concert in November 2024 at The Town Hall in

, marking 30 years since the release of their first album,

Evanescence Evanescence is an American Rock music, rock band founded in 1994 by singer and keyboardist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody in Little Rock, Arkansas. After releasing independent extended play, EPs and a Origin (Evanescence demo album), demo ...

. Aside from her jazz orchestral works, Schneider's ''

Winter Morning Walks ''Winter Morning Walks'' is a studio album by Maria Schneider and Dawn Upshaw. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition and Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Classical in 2014. Reception Vincent Plush o ...

'' (2013) album featured soprano

Dawn Upshaw Dawn Upshaw (born July 17, 1960) is an American soprano. She is the recipient of several Grammy Awards and has released a number of Edison Award-winning discs; she performs both opera and art song, and her repertoire spans Baroque to contempo ...

, the

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

and

Australian Chamber Orchestra The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) is an Australian orchestra focused on chamber music based in Sydney. History The Australian Chamber Orchestra was founded by cellist John Painter in 1975.Verghis, Sharon"Bach with more bite pays off" ''T ...

s, bassist Jay Anderson, pianist

Frank Kimbrough Frank Kimbrough (November 2, 1956 – December 30, 2020) was an American post-bop jazz pianist and composer. He was born and raised in Roxboro, North Carolina. He did some work at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Chapel Hill before moving to Washingt ...

, and multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson. The album accompanied poetry written by U.S. Poet Laureate

Ted Kooser Theodore J. Kooser (born April 25, 1939) is an American poet. He won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2005. He served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 to 2006. Kooser was one of the first poets laureate ...

and was funded by ArtistShare. It won Schneider a

for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. Dawn Upshaw also won a Grammy for her vocal performance, while the

Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Classical The Grammy Award for Best Engineered Recording, Classical has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes: *In 1959 the award was known as Best Engineered Record (Classical) *From 1960 to 1962 it was awarded as Best Engine ...

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 The United States Copyright Office (USCO), a part of the Library of Congress, is a United States government body that registers copyright claims, records information about copyright ownership, provides information to the public, and assists ...

. Schneider has been outspoken against

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and so-called "

freemium Freemium, a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium", is a pricing strategy by which a basic product or service is provided free of charge, but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical ( ...

" 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 National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely known for its Gram ...

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 Big data primarily refers to data sets that are too large or complex to be dealt with by traditional data processing, data-processing application software, software. Data with many entries (rows) offer greater statistical power, while data with ...

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 (2016); "Don't Be Evil"; and "Sputnik". Several of these compositions appeared on the 2020 album ''

''.

Class action lawsuit against YouTube

On July 2, 2020, Maria Schneider filed a class action lawsuit with Pirate Monitor Ltd. against YouTube arguing that smaller copyright holders are unable to access YouTube's Content ID system which would allow them to publish, monetize, and block infringing material. Schneider and Pirate Monitor claimed that they and other small copyright rights holders were denied access to Content ID, leaving them only the options of self-policing or ignoring infringement of their own property. They also argued that Content ID's weak punishments encourage repeat infringement and that YouTube did not qualify for DMCA safe harbor. Maria Schneider DSC0128

Pirate Monitor Ltd voluntarily withdrew from the class action lawsuit on March 8, 2021, while Maria Schneider continued with the case. The case was dismissed in June 2023 before going to trial.

Personal life

Schneider is an avid birdwatcher and enlisted band members to contribute bird calls to "Cerulean Skies" on her album ''

''. Other bird-related songs on her albums include "Waxwing" on '' Coming About'', "Bird Count" on '' Days of Wine and Roses - Live at the Jazz Standard'', and "Arbiters of Evolution" on ''

''.

Awards and honors

* Best Composer, Best Arranger, Best Big Band, ''

DownBeat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' magazine Annual Critics' Poll, 2006–2012; 2016The DownBeat Critics Poll Archive
, ''Downbeat.com'' * Jazz Album of the Year, Composer of the Year, Arranger of the Year, Large Jazz Ensemble of the Year,

Jazz Journalists Association The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA), founded in 1987, is an international organization of all types of media professionals who document, promulgate, or appreciate jazz. As of 2016, it has approximately 250 members, including professional journa ...

, 2005 *

Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

, ''

'', 2004 *

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition (including its previous names) has been awarded since 1960. The award is presented to the composer of an original piece of music (not an adaptation), first released during the eligibility year. I ...

, "Cerulean Skies", 2007 *

Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to composers for quality works of contemporary classical ...

, ''Winter Morning Walks'', 2013 *

, ''

'', 2015 *

Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as t ...

, "

Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" is a song by the English musician David Bowie released on 17 November 2014 as the lead single from the 2014 compilation album ''Nothing Has Changed''. Co-produced by Bowie and longtime collaborator Tony Vis ...

" (David Bowie) from ''

Nothing Has Changed ''Nothing Has Changed'' (stylised as ''Nothing has changed.'') is a compilation album by English musician David Bowie. It was released on 18 November 2014 through Parlophone in the United Kingdom, and Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings in t ...

'' 2015 * 2019 NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship *''Concert in the Garden'' was inducted into the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...

in 2019 *

, "Sputnik", 2020 *

, ''Data Lords,'' 2020 * Finalist for the

Pulitzer Prize in Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted i ...

for ''Data Lords'', 2021 * Elected member of the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

, 2023

Discography

* ''

'' ( Enja, 1994) * '' Coming About'' (Enja, 1996) * '' Days of Wine and Roses - Live at the Jazz Standard'' (

, 2000 imited edition 2005 egular release * '' Allégresse'' (Enja, 2000) * ''

'' (ArtistShare, 2004) * ''

'' (ArtistShare, 2007) * ''

'' (ArtistShare, 2013) * ''

'' (ArtistShare, 2015) * ''

'' (ArtistShare, 2020) * ''Decades'' (ArtistShare, 2024, three vinyl LP discs)

References

External links

"Open Letter to YouTube, 'Pushers' of Piracy" (May 15, 2016)

"Content ID is Still Just Piracy in Disguise: An Open Letter to Rightsholders and a Music Industry Ready to Renegotiate with a Monster" (July 31, 2016)

"What Do Whore Houses, Meth Labs and YouTube Have in Common?" (Sept. 27th, 2016)

* (includes video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Maria 1960 births Living people People from Windom, Minnesota University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni University of Miami alumni Eastman School of Music alumni American women jazz musicians American jazz bandleaders American jazz composers American women jazz composers American music arrangers American big band bandleaders Grammy Award winners Jazz musicians from Minnesota 21st-century American women Enja Records artists ArtistShare artists NEA Jazz Masters