John Schneider (guitarist)



John Schneider (born 1950) is a Grammy® Award winning and 4-time Grammy® nominated American classical guitarist. He performs in just intonation and various well-temperaments, including Pythagorean tuning, including works by Lou Harrison, LaMonte Young, John Cage, and Harry Partch. He often arranges pieces for guitar and other instruments such as harp or percussion.

Schneider was a professor of music at Los Angeles Pierce College, [1980-2020], hosts the KPFK weekly radio program "Global Village", is founder of MicroFest (1997—), and founder of MicroFest Records. He is also the founder and musical director of the PARTCH Ensemble, dedicated to the music of Harry Partch. With this ensemble, he won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium for Partch: Plectra & Percussion Dances (Bridge Records, 2014). He owns two dozen copies of different instruments designed by Harry Partch as well as a collection of guitars with microtonal fretboards. In 2015, he published a revised and enlarged edition of his book The Contemporary Guitar, which first appeared in 1985.

Discography

 * SONIC VOYAGE: New Music for Guitar. El Maestro Records, 1981.
 * Lou Harrison: Music for Guitar & Percussion Etcetera [Holland] KTC 1071, 1991.
 * JUST WEST COAST : Microtonal Music for Guitar & Harp, Bridge Records BCD 9041, 1993.[chosen "CD of the Year" by CD Review in 1994 & Fanfare's “Classical Hall of Fame” 2003]
 * Sasha Matson : RANGE OF LIGHT, NEW ALBION RECORDS NA 092, 1997.
 * John Cage • LOU HARRISON • HARRY PARTCH, Cambria Records - CAMBRIA 8806, 2000. [ASCAP Special Achievement Award]
 * JUST GUITARS : Music by Harrison, Partch, Riley & Scholtz & Schneider, Bridge Records Bridge 9132, 2003.
 * Johnny Reinhard : ODYSSEUS, Pitch Records P-2002-1, 2004.
 * MUSIC OF CARLOS CHAVEZ (vol.3) Southwest Chamber Music, Cambria Records, (2005). Grammy nominations for “Best Classical Album” & “Best Small Ensemble” & Latin Grammy nomination for “Best Classical Album”
 * MUSIC OF Carlos Chavez (vol.4) Southwest Chamber Music - solo guitar works + string quartets Cambria Records, (2006). Latin Grammy nomination for “Best Classical Album”
 * EAR GARDENS : American Festival of Microtonal Music. Music of Reinhard, Riley, Corner & Cage Pitch Records P-200209, 2006.
 * ENCLOSURE 8 : Harry Partch. Castor & Pollux w/dancers with Partch, Innova Records DVD, 2007.
 * Russel Steinberg & Daniel Pearl: "Stories from My Favorite Planet", www.DanielPearl.org, 2007.
 * POR GITARO: Lou Harrison's Suites for Tuned Guitars, Mode Records, mode 195, 2008
 * JOHN CAGE: 45' For A Speaker, Tiger Barb Records, 2008.
 * William Kraft: Encounters, Cambria Records 1191, 2009. Latin Grammy nomination for “Best Classical Album”
 * Harry Partch: Bitter Music – Bridge Records 9349 A/B/C, 2011. Grammy® Award nomination for “Best Classical Compendium”
 * COLD BLUE TWO: Polansky “Eskimo Lullaby”, Cold Blue Music CB0036, 2012
 * Ben Johnston: Ruminations - Setting of Rumi & Billie Holiday, MicroFest Records M•5, 2014
 * Harry Partch: Plectra & Percussion Dances - Bridge Records 9432, 2014. Grammy® Award winner for "Best Classical Compendium" & Grammy® Award nomination for "Best Chamber Music Performance"
 * JUST STRINGS: John Luther Adams & Lou Harrison - MicroFest Records, M•F 7, 2015
 * BILL ALVES : Guitars & Gamelan - MicroFest Records, M•F 8, 2015
 * HOPSCOTCH : The Industry Records, 2017 (voiceover)
 * COLOR THEORY : Prism Sax Quartet/Partch/So Percussion - XAS 102, 2017
 * Tom Johnson: PLUCKING - MicroFest Records, M•F 9, 2017
 * JUST NATIONAL GUITAR : music of Lou Harrison, Terry Riley, et al. MicroFest Records M•F 12, 2019
 * Harry Partch: SONATA DEMENTIA - Bridge Records 9525, 2019
 * HARRY PARTCH, 1942 - MicroFest Records M•F 20, 2022. Grammy® Award nomination for Best Program Notes