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Europe Jazz Network
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Maria Schneider, born November 27, 1960, in Windom, Minnesota, was
studying piano and music theory by age 5. She earned a Bachelor of Music
degree in theory and composition at the University of Minnesota, studied
at the University of Miami, and received a Masters degree from the
Eastman School of Music. After moving to New York, she received a National
Endowment for the Arts grant to study composition with Bob Brookmeyer.
In 1985, she became assistant to the famous composer and arranger, Gil Evans. Her work with him included music for the movie "The Color of Money" and Sting's 1987 European tour. At the 1993 Spoleto Music Festival, Maria Schneider conducted the Gil Evans Orchestra in a concert of selections from "Miles Ahead", "Porgy & Bess" and "Sketches of Spain" albums. Maria Schneider has written for the Woody Herman and Mel Lewis bands. In 1994, she was commissioned to write music for concerts with Toots Thielemans and the Norrbotten Big Band (Sweden). She has also conducted the Stockholm Jazz Orchestra, the UMO Orchestra (Finland), the Danish Big Band and the Cologne Radio Orchestra, in performances of her music in live concerts as well as for television and radio broadcasts. She worked with some of these orchestras in 1996 and had, recently, conducted in France the ONJ (Orchestre National de Jazz). Late 1994, Maria Schneider conducted the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, in the commissioned premiere of "El Viento". In 1995, she has also been commissioned to compose music to be performed, by her own orchestra, at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Late that same year, her orchestra has been invited to participate in the opening concert of the International Music Festival of Macau, in China. The 1994 "Down Beat" critics poll named the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra first in Talent Deserving Wider Recognition (TDWR), beeing voted third as an arranger in the same poll. Its Readers Poll voted her second in arranging. In the same category, the "Jazz Times" 1995 Readers Poll named her first. In 1996, the "Down Beat" Critics Poll named Maria Schneider first as composer and arranger (TDWR) and her band was voted second. Its Readers Poll named her first as arranger and the orchestra was voted fourth. "Jazz Times" Readers Poll voted first both Maria Schneider, as arranger, and her orchestra as big band. Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra has been performing at Visiones in Greenwich Village every Monday night since March of 1993. Evanenscence, the band's debut recording, was released in 1994 on the Enja label, and nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1995. That CD has received the best reviews in "Down Beat" (4 and 1/2 stars), "Jazz Times" and "Jazz Magazine". Last year, Coming About, her second recording for Enja, has been released and received 5 stars (excellent) in "Down Beat", and very good in "Jazz Times". Biography courtesy of Paulo Santos Gil - Música: Produção e Gestão |