Maria Schneider’s music has been described as “evocative, majestic, heart-stoppingly gorgeous, epic and beyond categorization.” Blurring the boundaries between jazz and classical traditions, she is among the few artists to receive GRAMMY Awards in multiple genres, honored in jazz and classical categories, as well as for her work with David Bowie.

Since her debut recording Evanescence (1994), Schneider has developed a distinctive compositional language for her 18-member orchestra, writing specifically for the individualistic voices within the ensemble. The group has performed worldwide, and Schneider has guest-conducted more than 90 ensembles across 30 countries.

Her most recent project, American Crow, expands her work into a cinematic dimension. Released as both a music video and EP, the piece pairs sweeping orchestration with striking visual imagery, using jazz to illustrate the art of listening, a practice she feels could help heal our fractured cultural landscape. The work continues her group’s exploration of collective listening and the emotional power of large-ensemble storytelling.

Schneider’s double album Data Lords (2020), a Pulitzer Prize Finalist and winner of two GRAMMY Awards, was named Jazz Album of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association and NPR, and received France’s Grand Prix de l’Académie du Jazz. Presented in two parts—The Digital World and Our Natural World—the project fused her artistic vision with her longstanding advocacy around technology and culture. As NPR’s Nate Chinen wrote, it “amounts to the most daring work of Schneider’s career.”

A pioneer in artist-funded production, Schneider has long worked through the platform ArtistShare. In 2004, Concert in the Garden became the first GRAMMY-winning recording with Internet-only sales and was later inducted into the National Recording Registry.

Her honors include 14 GRAMMY nominations and 7 GRAMMY Awards, designation as an NEA Jazz Master, election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the ASCAP Concert Music Award, the prestigious Rolf Schock Prize from Sweden, and honorary doctorates from the University of Minnesota and the Eastman School of Music.

A prominent advocate for artists’ rights, Schneider has testified before the U.S. Congressional Subcommittee on Intellectual Property ­­and has written extensively on digital rights and the future of the music economy.