Eastman names German professor of composition

Oliver Schneller will also be director of the Computer Music Center at Eastman School of Music.

April 22, 2015   

Composer Oliver Schneller Appointed to Faculty of Eastman School of Music

Oliver Schneller, who has directed and curated festivals and collaborative arts projects over the course of his wide-ranging career, has been named Professor of Composition and Director of the Eastman Computer Music Center at the Eastman School of Music. 

Born in Germany, Schneller grew up in Africa, Europe, and Asia and studied in Germany and the United States, and his works reflect his interest in all aspects of interculturality in music. He is the recipient of such prestigious honors as Harvard University’s Paul Fromm Award, the Tanglewood Music Center’s Benjamin Britten Memorial Fellowship, the Rome Prize Fellowship, the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation’s Composers’ Prize, and more.

“We are delighted that Oliver Schneller will join our composition faculty and look forward to a new and exciting chapter for the Eastman Computer Music Center under his stewardship,” said Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, chair of the composition department. “Oliver is an erudite and versatile composer whose music combines elegance and clockwork precision with expressive depth.  He is a true global composer, with interests that include the music of Europe, Japan, and the Middle East, as well as inter-arts work and new technologies.  He is also a gifted and inspiring teacher and mentor, and has spearheaded a number of innovative projects for new music in the United States, Germany, Japan, and elsewhere.”

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As a saxophonist, Schneller has performed with ensembles such as the George Russell Big Band, the Gustav Mahler Youth Symphony under Seiji Ozawa, and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra as a soloist in Tan Dun’s Red Forecast. He also has worked with various jazz and improvisations ensembles in Cologne, Paris, Amsterdam, Boston, and New York.

Schneller earned degrees at the University of Bonn and the New England Conservatory of Music, as well as the Doctor in Musical Arts degree in composition from Columbia University.