In an era when genre distinctions are more and more meaningless, composer and bandleader Maria Schneider bridges the still-sort-of-real gap between the worlds of jazz and classical composition.
This is embraceable art music.
Schneider’s large brassy ensemble pieces can bring to mind the warm swell of Gil Evans or the bright energy of Ellington, but she’s also working in the tradition of Aaron Copland and more contemporary composers like John Luther Adams, whose work is inspired by nature and the animal kingdom.
This isn’t music filled with angst and darkness. Schneider’s pieces bubble and swoop with a sense of joy and poetry, drawing connections to bird song or prairie vistas, and blending together improvisatory freedom with set-to-the-page composed structure.
For this performance the Maria Schneider Orchestra will perform a new work co-commissioned by the International Festival of Arts and Ideas.
The Maria Schneider Orchestra will perform at the Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall, Yale University, New Haven, as a part of the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, on Wednesday, June 15, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $45 to $70. artidea.org.
