Jazz composer, arranger and bandleader Maria Schneider is one of two recipients of this year’s Life in Music Award of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
Schneider will be receiving her award alongside fellow honoree, the horal composer Morten Lauridsen, at the 2016 ASCAP Foundation Honors. The ceremony will take place at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City on December 14.
The Life in Music award is presented by the Foundation in recognition of “outstanding accomplishments as a composer, songwriter, performer, arranger or vocalist in any genre.” ASCAP Foundation president Paul William stated that Schneider is being honored for her inventive works in classical and jazz,” and for a career that exemplifies “the creative excellence that is at the heart of the Life in Music Award.”
Schneider is recognized as one of the most innovative contemporary composers and bandleaders, whose works often blend a fine line between avant-garde jazz and modern classical.
Throughout her career, she has collaborated with such greats as Gil Evans, Mel Lewis and David Bowie and has won five Grammys, including a Best Large Ensemble Album one earlier this year for The Thompson Fields.