Jazz composer Maria Schneider will appear at the Flynn Center on Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. leading both her own highly acclaimed New York Orchestra and the University of Vermont Jazz Ensemble. In preparation for the concert, Schneider will be in residence at UVM on Jan. 19 and 20 for rehearsals with the UVM Jazz Ensemble.
In recent years Schneider has won multiple awards for Best Jazz Composer. In 2005 she also won a Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble. A protege of Gil Evans and Bob Brookmeyer, she has staked out her own unique and personal style while extracting new sounds from the jazz big band format.
According to Jazz Ensemble director Alex Stewart, whose book on contemporary orchestral jazz will be published in early 2007 by University of California Press, Schneider often "draws the audience into her musical narratives by relating the autobiographical content of a piece." Her music frequently concerns triumph over fears, from overcoming childhood anxieties to casting aside more rational fears surrounding the dangers of hang gliding, Stewart said.
"Schneider's big band paints musical landscapes full of glowing pastel harmonies and sharp-angled rhythms," according to Time magazine. "Listen to her sweepingly ambitious compositions and hear the next wave of jazz taking place before your very ears."
Schneider will lead the UVM Jazz Ensemble in a short opening set of three of her compositions including "Wyrgly," a unique piece portraying the "metamorphosis" of a monster "from a mesmerizing vapor to an embodiment characterized by a dramatic display of multiple flailing limbs."
Other artists who have been in residence at UVM include Wynton Marsalis, Clark Terry, Oliver Lake, Rufus Reed, Paquito d'Rivera, and the Chico O'Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra. Jazz residencies are sponsored by UVM's Jazz Studies program in conjunction with the Flynn Theater.
Discounted tickets for the Jan. 20 performance are available for UVM affiliates through Claire Milne in the Music Department office, 656-2295.
