Maria Schneider’s music has been hailed by critics as “evocative, majestic, magical, heart-stoppingly gorgeous, and beyond categorization.” She and her orchestra became widely known starting in 1994 when they released their first recording, ‘Evanescence.’ With that recording, Schneider began to develop her personal way of writing for her 17-member collective, tailoring her compositions to distinctly highlight the unique voices of the group. Subsequently, the Maria Schneider Orchestra has performed at festivals and concert halls worldwide. She herself has received numerous commissions and guest conducting invites, working with over 85 groups from over 30 countries spanning Europe, South America, Australia, Asia and North America.

Schneider’s music blurs the lines between genres, and as a result, her long list of commissioners have slowly become quite varied. They include: the Norrbotten Big Band and Danish Radio Orchestra with Toots Thielemans and Ivan Lins, the Metropole Orchestra in the Netherlands (several works), Orchestra National de Jazz (Recapitulaion), Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra (El Viento), Monterey Jazz Festival (Scenes from Childhood, Willow Lake), The American Dance Festival (for dance company, Pilobolus – Dissolution), University of Miami Concert Jazz Band (Three Romances), Hunter College (Concert in the Garden, Sky Blue), Jazz at Lincoln Center (Buleria, Soleá y Rumba), Los Angeles Philharmonic Association (Aires de Lando), Peter Sellars’ New Crowned Hope Festival (Vienna’s Mozart Festival–Cerulean Skies), Kronos Quartet (String Quartet No. 1) and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra with soprano, Dawn Upshaw (Carlos Drummond de Andrade Stories), a work that had its New York premiere May 2011 at Carnegie Hall conducted by Schneider.

Schneider’s most recent work (premiered June 12th, 2011), co-commissioned by the Ojai Festival, The Australian Chamber Orchestra and Cal Performances, blurred boundaries further as it featured the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Dawn Upshaw, and three musicians long associated with Schneider’s own orchestra: pianist, Frank Kimbrough, bassist, Jay Anderson, and multi-instrumentalist, Scott Robinson. For this work, she incorporated poems by poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner, Ted Kooser, from his book, ‘Winter Morning Walks.’

Schneider and her orchestra have a distinguished recording career with nine Grammy nominations and two Grammy awards. ‘Concert in the Garden’ (Best Large Ensemble Album), released only through her ArtistShare® website, became historic as the first record to win a Grammy with Internet-only sales. The second Grammy was awarded for Maria’s composition, Cerulean Skies (Best Instrumental Composition).

Unique funding of projects has continued for Schneider, as she has recently composed two works for her own orchestra with the involvement of commissioners, not from arts organizations, but directly from her ArtistShare fan base. For these projects, she documented her process of creating the two new works for participating fans. The commissioners are, Christophe Asselineau (The Thompson Fields), and Bill and Carol Bloemer, Justin Freed, Paul James and John Koerber (Lembrança).

Concert in the Garden and her orchestra’s latest album, Sky Blue (on which Cerulean Skies was recorded) were both named “Jazz Album of the Year” by the Jazz Journalists Association and the DOWNBEAT Critics Poll.

Recorded live at the Humber College Lakeshore Campus Auditorium, in Toronto, Canada, on October 14, 2011.

Humber Faculty Big Band:

Leader: Denny Christianson

Saxophones: Mark Promane, Andy Ballantyne, Pat LaBarbera , Kirk MacDonald, Shirantha Beddage

Trombones: Alastair Kay, William Carn, Kelsey Grant, Pete Hysen

Trumpets: Dave Dunlop, Steve Crowe, John MacLeod, Brian O’Kane

Rhythm: Brian Dickinson (Piano), Mike Downes (Bass), Ted Quinlan (Guitar), Mark Kelso (Drums), Joe Macerollo (Accordion)

Set List:

01 Concert In The Garden

02 Choro Dancado

03 Gumba Blue

04 Journey Home

05 Last Season

06 Sky Blue

07 Cerulean Skies

08 My Ideal

Since moving to New York in 2006, John Escreet has had a powerful impact, and is emerging as one of the most creative and original pianists on the music scene there. He is highly revered amongst his peers for his creativity, openness and for his own original music, which draws inspiration from many different sources, and encompasses them all and much more. He recently received a commission by Chamber Music America to compose new music as part of the New Jazz Works Program for 2009. Escreet keeps himself busy touring and performing all over the world, but when not on the road he resides in New York City, working on and performing his own original music, constantly challenging himself and searching for something new and original. In the summer of 2008 he graduated from the Master’s Program at Manhattan School of Music, where he studied piano with Kenny Barron and Jason Moran.

Recorded live at The Rex Jazz & Blues Bar, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on November 24th, 2010.

Band Members:

John Escreet – Piano

David Binney – Alto Saxophone & Effects

Nir Felder – Electric Guitar

Zach Lober – Acoustic Bass

Nasheet Waits – Drums

Set List:

01 Civilization On Trial/Untitled

02 Hungry/Don’t Fight The Inevitable

03 Wayne’s World

04 Untitled 2

05 Trouble And Activity

06 French Jungle