SCHNEIDER ORCHESTRA November 17, 2022 | 8 p.m. 2022-2023 CANDLER CONCERT SERIES
MARIA
This concert is presented by the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts.
404.727.5050 | schwartz.emory.edu | boxoffice@emory.edu
Audience Information
Please turn off all electronic devices.
Health and Safety
The Schwartz Center follows the Emory University Visitor Policy with additional protocols outlined at schwartz.emory.edu/faq.
Photographs and Recordings
Digital capture or recording of this concert is not permitted.
Ushers
The Schwartz Center welcomes a volunteer usher corps of approximately 60 members each year. Visit schwartz.emory.edu/volunteer or call 404.727.6640 for ushering opportunities.
Accessibility
The Schwartz Center is committed to providing performances and facilities accessible to all. Please direct accommodation requests to the Schwartz Center Box Office at 404.727.5050, or by email at boxoffice@emory.edu.
Design and Photography Credits
Cover Design: Nick Surbey Front Cover Photo: Gustav Eckart
Page 3 Photo: Briene Lermitte
Page 6 Photo: Whit Lane Back Cover Photo: Mark Teague
Acknowledgment
This season, the Schwartz Center is celebrating 20 years of world-class performances and wishes to gratefully acknowledge the generous ongoing support of Donna and Marvin Schwartz.
This program is made possible by a generous gift from the late Flora Glenn Candler, a friend and patron of music at Emory University.
Ensemble
Maria Schneider Orchestra
Maria Schneider, composer/conductor
Steve Wilson, alto saxophone
Dave Pietro, alto saxophone Rich Perry, tenor saxophone
Donny McCaslin, tenor saxophone Scott Robinson, baritone saxophone
Tony Kadleck, trumpet Greg Gisbert, trumpet Nadje Noordhuis, trumpet Mike Rodriguez, trumpet
Keith O’Quinn, trombone Ryan Keberle, trombone Javier Nero, trombone George Flynn, bass trombone
Julien Labro, accordion
Jeff Miles, guitar Gary Versace, piano Jay Anderson, bass Johnathan Blake, drums
Richard Bernard, sound engineer
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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 with the release of their first recording, Evanescence. There, she began to develop her personal way of writing for what would become her 18-member collective, made up of many of the finest musicians in jazz today, tailoring her compositions to distinctly highlight the uniquely creative voices of the group.
The Maria Schneider Orchestra has performed at festivals and concert halls worldwide. She has received numerous commissions and guest conducting invites, working with over 90 groups in over 30 countries. Her music blurs the lines between genres, making her long list of commissioners quite varied, stretching from Jazz at Lincoln Center, to The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, to collaborating with David Bowie. She is among the few to have received Grammy Awards in multiple genres, both jazz and classical categories, as well as for her work with David Bowie.
Schneider and her orchestra have a distinguished recording career with 14 Grammy nominations and seven Grammy Awards. Unique funding of their projects has become a hallmark through the trendsetting company, ArtistShare. Her album, Concert in the Garden (2004) became historic as the first recording to win a Grammy Award with internet-only sales; even more significantly, it blazed the crowdfunding trail as ArtistShare’s first release. She was awarded many honors by the Jazz Journalists Association and Downbeat and JazzTimes Critics and Readers Polls. In 2012 the University of Minnesota, Schneider’s alma mater, presented her with an honorary doctorate. ASCAP awarded Schneider their esteemed Concert Music Award in 2014. In 2019, the National Endowment for the Arts bestowed upon her the nation’s highest honor in jazz, naming her an NEA Jazz Master.
Schneider has become a strong voice for music advocacy and in 2014, testified before the U.S. Congressional Subcommittee on Intellectual Property on issues surrounding digital rights. She has also appeared on CNN, participated in roundtables for the United States Copyright Office, and has been quoted in numerous publications for her views on Spotify, YouTube, Google, digital rights, and music piracy.
The Maria Schneider Orchestra collaborated with David Bowie, resulting in his single called, “Sue (Or in a Season of Crime),” and brought Schneider a 2016 Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals. She and her orchestra also received a 2016 Grammy Award for The Thompson Fields (Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album). Their recording
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project, Data Lords, was released on July 21, 2020. Data Lords garnered two Grammy Awards in 2021 for Best Instrumental composition (“Sputnik”) and Best Large Ensemble album. Data Lords was a recent Pulitzer Prize finalist; was named “Jazz Album of the Year” by NPR’s Jazz Critics Poll, the Jazz Journalists Association, and the 69th Annual Downbeat Critics Poll; and also won France’s top honor, le Grand Prix de l’Académie du Jazz.
With Data Lords, Schneider has melded her advocacy and art:
Nate Chinen of NPR writes: “Now it’s finally here, in the form of a magnificent double album, Data Lords. . . . it parses into thematic halves, “The Digital World” and, as an antidote, “The Natural World.” On the whole and in the details, it amounts to the most daring work of Schneider’s career, which sets the bar imposingly high. This is music of extravagant mastery, and it comes imbued with a spirit of risk.”
David Hajdu for the Nation writes, “Beyond the dualism in its format, Data Lords is a work of holistic creativity. The music of outrage and critique in the first album has all the emotion and conceptual integrity that the music of melancholy and reverence does in the second. I can’t conceive of anyone else creating this music, unless Delius has been writing with Bowie on the other side.”
Schwartz Center Staff
Rachael Brightwell, Managing Director
Terry Adams, Box Office Coordinator
Lisa Baron, Communications Specialist
Carrie Christie, Program Coordinator
Kathryn Colegrove, Associate Director for Programming and Outreach
Lewis Fuller, Associate Director for Production and Operations
Jennifer Kimball, Assistant Stage Manager
Jeffrey Lenhard, Operations Assistant
Alan Strange, Box Office Manager
Nicholas Surbey, Senior Graphic Designer
Alexandria Sweatt, Marketing Assistant
Mark Teague, Stage Manager
Nina Vestal, House Manager
Matt Williamson, Multimedia Specialist
The Schwartz Center for Performing Arts offers a variety of jazz, classical, and crossover music each season. Visit schwartz.emory.edu for more information.
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