Over the last decade composer Maria Schneider has become a major jazz presence conducting her works with jazz and big band orchestras at Carnegie Hall and around the world. Time magazine has called her “the most important woman in jazz,” and three of her recordings—Allegresse, Evanescence, and Coming About—have been nominated for Grammies. “Schneider’s music is like no other jazz in the world,” the Los Angeles Times has said.

Maria Schneider

Schneider has her own group, the 17-piece Maria Schneider Orchestra, and they are making Hunter College their base of operations for the spring term. She and several members will be teaching master classes, present guest lectures, and conduct rehearsals open to Hunter College and High School students. Hunter musicians will also join in workshops with the Maria Schneider Orchestra.

A highlight of these campus appearances are a series of four concerts at the Kaye Playhouse. The kick-off concert took place on February 19, and featured the world premiere of a Schneider composition commissioned by Hunter College. Other concerts (all Thursdays at 8) will be on March 18, April 29 (with Bob Brookmeyer, who mentored Schneider in her early New York City composition studies), and June 17 (in association with the JVC Jazz Festival).