Critically acclaimed
virtuoso of plucked instruments since age nine, John Schneiderman specializes in
the performance practice and repertoire of eighteenth-century lutes and
nineteenth-century guitars. Based in California, Mr. Schneiderman is in
demand as a soloist and chamber musician collaborating on recordings and
performances throughout North America.
Beginning his performance career as a banjo, guitar, bass and fiddle player, the young Schneiderman was a familiar face on the stages of bluegrass and folk festivals throughout California. He continues his interest in early American music performing traditional Appalachian fiddle tunes in a clawhammer style on the five-string banjo.
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Mr.
Schneiderman studied with British guitar pedagogue and author Frederick Noad,
and continued his studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland, with the
great modern pioneer of the baroque lute, Eugen Dombois. Mr. Dombois' precise
and detailed approach to the repertoire continues notably to influence
Schneiderman's interpretations today.
He is a
member of the chamber ensembles Galanterie, and The Czar's guitars, and has
performed with the Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles
Philharmonic, Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra, Musica Angelica, Seattle Baroque,
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Chanticleer, Musica Pacifica and the American
Bach Soloists.
His extensive discography, much of it rarely or never
before recorded lute and guitar music, includes cds on the Titanic, AudioQuest,
Dorian, Centaur, VGo and Profil:Edition Günter Hänssler labels.
Mr. Schneiderman is currently on the faculties of the University of California, Irvine, Irvine Valley College and Orange Coast College, and has been on the faculties of the California State University, Long Beach and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Cambridge Society for Early Music
Early Music Society of the Islands (Canada)
San Diego Early Music Society
Berkeley Early Music Festival
Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments
Guitar Foundation of America International Convention
San Francisco Classical Guitar Society
Victoria Guitar Society (Canada)
Denver Classical Guitar Society
Connecticut Guitar Society
Cuesta Guitar Circle (San Luis Obispo)
Orange County Guitar Circle
Santa Cruz Baroque Festival
Boulder Bach Festival
Long Beach Bach Festival
Red Cedar Chamber Music (Iowa)
Monadnock Music Festival (New Hampshire)
Chanticleer (San Francisco)
American Bach Soloists (San Francisco)
San Francisco Bach Choir
Galanterie (San Francisco)
Les Deux Amis (San Francisco)
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
Los Angeles Opera
Musica Angelica (Los Angeles)
Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra
Hutchins Consort (San Diego)
Seattle Baroque
Cal State University Guitar and Lute Institute
Music Sources (Berkeley)
FROM THE DRESDEN COURT TO THE PARISIAN SALON JOHN SCHNEIDERMAN BAROQUE LUTE & SEVEN-STRING GUITAR Sonata No.5 in D Minor (Dresden Ms.)...Silvius Leopold Weiss Prelude (circa 1687-1750) Allemande Courante Bouree Menuet Sarabande Menuet Gigue Sonata I in C Minor, Op.2 (1742)..........Adam Falckenhagen Largo (1697-1761) Allegro un poco A tempo giusto Sonata No.1 in F Major (Dresden Ms.)...Silvius Leopold Weiss Prelude Allemande Courante Bouree Sarabande Menuet 1, Menuet 2 Gigue Baroque Lute INTERVAL Souvenirs...............................Napoleon Coste No.1 La Valle d'Ornans, (1806-1883) Cantibile et Rondeau, Op.17 No.3 Delfzil, Scherzo, Op.19 No.4 Le Zuyderzee, Ballade, Op.20 No.7 Les Soirees d'Auteuil, Serenade et Scherzo, Op.23 Wasserfahrt am Traunsee.............Johann Kaspar Mertz Der Ball (1806-1856) Seven-String Guitar SILVIUS LEOPOLD WEISS Silvius Leopold Weiss was the leading lutenist/composer of the German Baroque period. Born near Breslau, Silesia (now Wroclaw, Poland), in 1687, Weiss was introduced to lute playing by his father. His brother, as well as his son, also played the lute professionally. In 1708 Weiss accompanied the Polish Prince Alexander Sobiesky to Rome and remained ther until his patron’s death in 1714. In Rome he would undoubtedly have met and associated with some of the most important and celebrated musicians of his time, such as Arcangelo Corelli and allesandro and Domenico Scarlatti. In 1718 he became chamber lutenist at the court of the Elector of Saxony in Dresden, where he remained until his death in 1750. Dresden was at the time reputed to have the finest musical establishment in Central Europe, and among Weiss’ numerous and famous musical associates there were the violinist Pisendel, the flutist Quantz, and the composers Heinichen, Lotti, and Hasse. He also travelled extensively and formed friendships with many important figures in the musical world at the time, most notably Johann Sebastian Bach. ADAM FALCKENHAGEN Adam Falckenhagen studied with Johann Jacob Graf, a student of Silvius Leopold Weiss, and later with Weiss himself. Falckenhagen was employed at the court of the Margrave of Brandenburg from 1734 until his death in 1761. This proved a congenial posting for a lutenist such as Falckenhagen, not necessarily due to the Margrave himself, but because of his wife, Sophia Wilhelmine, to whom he dedicated his Opus One in 1740. Two years later Falckenhagen would dedicate his Opus Two to Wilhelmine’s mother, Sophia Dorothea, the Prussian queen. Wilhelmine (1709-1758) is a patron of more than passing interest. She was the elder sister of Frederick II of Prussia (better known to history as Frederick the Great) and apparently the only member of his family in whom he confided. Frederick was a keen amateur flutist and Wilhelmine played both the lute and the harpsichord. NAPOLEON COSTE Napoleon Coste, France’s leading guitarist/composer of the nineteenth century, employed a seven-string guitar with an extended bass and treble range. Op.17-23 are seven “Souvenirs”, five of which bear geographical titles of locations. This cycle is one of the most stimulating works for the guitar that the Romantic period has to offer and makes evident that Coste was one of the great nineteenth-century composers for the instrument. JOHANN KASPAR MERTZ The Austrian Johann Kaspar Mertz was one of the dominant figures in Europe to maintain interest in the guitar after the era of Sor and Giuliani. Mertz was born in what is now Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, on August 17, 1806. He was a gifted guitar and flute virtuoso and by 1840 was enjoying success in Vienna where he earned the reputation of being the finest guitarist/composer in that city. He toured Moravia, Poland and Russia and concertized in Berlin and Dresden. Mertz died on October 14, 1856. Shortly after he was posthumously awarded First Prize at the Brussels Competition for guitar composition.